As Texas prepares for the upcoming legislative session, many businesses are warning against the economic consequences that could arise from anti-LGBTQ bathroom bills. Texan Republicans are proposing a bill much like North Carolina’s HB2, forcing transgender people to use restrooms of their biological sex rather than their gender identity.

51% of Texans and 76% of Republicans support this notion, showing a widely conservative lean. However, the Texas Association of Business (TAB) warns that adopting these bathroom regulations and other anti-LGBTQ proposals could damage the Texan economy. Chris Wallace, president of TAB, stated, “We must keep Texas open for business. Discriminatory legislation is bad for business.”

Their claims present very real consequences that we’ve seen take place in North Carolina. Due to the nationwide publicity surrounding the HB2 bill, the NCAA relocated several championship events, and the NBA also relocated the All Star game. Popular musicians such as Bruce Springsteen, Demi Lovato, and Ringo Starr have all canceled performances there. Furthermore, several companies have scrapped plans to expand in North Carolina, leading to hundreds of potential jobs lost.

One study conducted in Austin predicted that the bathroom bill could cost as many as 850,000 jobs and at least $964 million. Recently, big companies like Apple, IBM, and Intel have vowed to oppose the bathroom bills and anti-LGBTQ laws like it. Tensions have been building in Texas since the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision, but we can only hope that potential economic consequences will help defeat the discriminatory proposals. [RawStory]