Nick Mollberg—who describes himself as a "5th generation Texan and Austinite" with "roots which run very deep here"—addressed the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs during public comments about Texas House Bill 229.
The bill seeks to enshrine into law the scientifically illiterate position that sex is a binary that can be determined solely based on reproductive organs.
It legally erases intersex people and anyone else with chromosomal, other genetic, or hormonal variants that don't align with their reproductive organs, as well as transgender people. If will also bring into question the sex assigned to people whose reproductive organs are removed due to injury or illness or if the organs have to function properly to be proof of a person's sex.
But the MAGA-aligned Texas GOP has already made it clear they have no knowledge of simple genetics or biology.
Regarding HB229, Mollberg asked the committee:
"Do y’all ever get tired of being on the wrong side of history?"
You can watch the moment here:
Mollberg told the committee their bill was a "Trojan horse" masquerading as protection for women against a nonexistent threat.
He said:
"I’m just going to call this bill what it is, it’s bigotry. For those voting for the bill: if you want me to look into your eyes while I call you a bigot, I will happily do so. Moreover, I’ll call you a coward."
"You’re not actually interested in protecting women in Texas. That’s the guise of the bill, right? It’s the Trojan Horse you use for all this anti-trans nonsense.
"I remember for years Republicans [claiming]: 'Gay marriage is going to end the world'. Then public opinion shifted, and you had to pick a new scapegoat."
He added the GOP needed to find a new way to distract voters from their inaction and ineffective governance.
@nowthisimpact One of the best takedowns I've ever seen.
The Austin-based software engineer continued, saying:
"That’s what you always have to do. It’s not that you can actually sit here and do the business of the people, make lives better for Texans like me."
"No, no, no, no, no, no, there’s no time for that. We’ve got to bully 1% of the population. We’ve got to harm them as badly as we possibly can."
"We’ve got to make them afraid. We’ve got to make them stay in their homes so that you’re not forced to actually acknowledge that they exist."
Mollberg pointed out:
"If we were sitting here 50 years ago, 60 years ago, instead of talking about trans women going into bathrooms, you’d be talking about Black women going into White bathrooms. Do y’all ever get tired of being on the wrong side of history?"
@pinknews Texan, Nick Mollberg, delivered a passionate speech on 15 May in the state Senate opposing the "Women’s Bill of Rights" that was passed last night, and that mandates state documents reflect an individual's biological sex assigned at birth. He criticized the legislation as "bigoted", and his remarks highlighted concerns that the bill could lead to increased discrimination and marginalization of the transgender community. #lgbtqia #texas #trans #transwomen #gender #senate
After the Human Rights Campaign posted the video on Facebook, Mollberg commented on their post:
"I still feel like I’m clumsy and awkward when public speaking, but eager to empower all my homies to speak out against bigoted buffoonery!"
People appreciated Mollberg's words of wisdom, even if they fell on the deliberately ignorant ears of the Texas GOP senators.
Human Rights Campaign/Facebook
Human Rights Campaign/Facebook
Human Rights Campaign/Facebook
Human Rights Campaign/Facebook
Human Rights Campaign/Facebook
Human Rights Campaign/Facebook
Human Rights Campaign/Facebook
Human Rights Campaign/Facebook
Human Rights Campaign/Facebook
Human Rights Campaign/Facebook
Human Rights Campaign/Facebook
Authored by MAGA Republican House Representative Ellen Troxclair, HB229 passed in the Texas senate on Wednesday, May 28, as expected. GOP Governor Greg Abbott promised to sign the transphobic bill into law.
Abbott sent a letter to state government agencies on January 30, 2025, declaring that Texas only recognizes two sexes.
It followed the blueprint of the executive order MAGA Republican President Donald Trump sent to federal agencies on his first day in office for his second term, January 20, as part of his implementation of the White supremacist, Christian nationalist agenda outlined in Project 2025.
In an official statement, Equality Texas interim CEO Brad Pritchett said:
"This bill was not needed, no judges were asking for legislative direction about definitions. Now, a clumsy and discriminatory definition will be implemented that will infect every corner of the state government with anti-trans animus."
He added:
"We have fallen so far from our ideals of freedom that lawmakers are now trying to implement their own dictionary so that they can erase people from society."
"They will be shocked to learn that trans people have been around longer than the state of Texas, longer than the United States of America, and this small piece of paper cannot undo that history nor erase trans people’s future.
Pritchett vowed:
"This fight isn’t over. Our trans neighbors mean too much to too many."
The human rights organization added that the Republican controlled Texas legislature has filed more than 200 anti-LGBTQ+ bills during the current legislative session.