The American Association of Law Libraries says its upcoming conference in Austin will be its last in Texas, unless the state reverses what it calls anti-LGBT policies.

"A commitment to diversity is one of AALL’s core values," reads a letter from the association sent to Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio leaders. "The recently-signed bill to allow discrimination against LGBTQ families (HB 3859) and the pending anti-transgender ‘bathroom bill’ expected to be taken up during the Legislature’s special session, directly harm LGBTQ people. We cannot stand by as Texas enacts legislation that discriminates against this vulnerable community."

House Bill 3859, which Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law last month, would allow religious-based adoption and foster care agencies to not place children with gay, lesbian or transgender parents. During the 2017 regular session, Republican leaders couldn’t agree on a bill to regulate public bathroom use by transgender people. Abbott told lawmakers to try again in a special session, which begins Tuesday.

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The association’s annual conference draws approximately 3,000 people, an absence the group says will have a significant economic impact. It is meeting in Austin for four days starting Saturday.

"We have received a number of comments from members that state our association should not be putting on conferences in states where anti-LGBTQ legislation has been enacted or proposed," said Greg Lambert, the group’s incoming president and Houston lawyer.

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House Speaker Joe Straus, a San Antonio Republican, criticized bathroom legislation, saying it would harm the state’s economy and that school districts were handling the issue just fine before lawmakers and political interest groups entered the fray. Straus’ position has put him at odds with more conservative members of his party, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and led to calls for his removal as speaker.

State Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, a Straus ally, said in a statement Thursday that Texas "is continuing to waste so much time over the ‘bathroom’ debate," which is "smoke-screening a very serious threat facing rural Texas families, our schools and local economies."

"As for my position on the "bathroom" bill, I support legislation that limits admittance (based on gender at birth) to multi-stall bathrooms and locker rooms in our schools and requires local schools districts to develop single-stall bathroom policies for its transgender students," he told constituents in the statement. "Beyond clarifying this policy for our public schools, we already have strong laws in Texas against sexual predators. Therefore, I do not condone duplicitous grandstanding on this issue and/or discriminatory legislation; nor do I support laws that will adversely affect our state’s economy."

Lambert said even if a bathroom bill’s reach is limited to public schools, "it doesn’t matter."

"Any type of discriminatory law is counter to our policy," he said.