Last November, South Texas Equality Project led RGV Pride at the Harlingen Convention Center, but something came up in between planning: Senate Bill 8, an anti-trans bathroom bill. STEP members worried people would not be able to access a safe restroom at what should be a safe, accommodating event.
SB 8, or the “Texas Women’s Privacy Act,” restricts restroom access in public buildings, schools, prisons, and family violence shelters for transgender and nonconforming individuals. Folx must use restrooms in these agencies that align with their sex given at birth.
After confirming SB 8’s status as pending (eventually passed in December), STEP members were relieved for Pride but worried for future events. After this scare, community LGBTQ+ activist Adrian M. (he/him) realized people need to know which spaces are safest. He began to identify gender-neutral restrooms in the Rio Grande Valley and share them on his Instagram.
“It started there where it was a one-event issue that became a ‘what are we going to do from here on out when this bill comes into effect?’” Adrian said.
The McAllen-based documenter began sharing gender-neutral restrooms in the Rio Grande Valley that have hosted LGBTQ+ events or specifically trans events, like at The Gremlin in Downtown McAllen, indie bookstores like Buho in Brownsville, and Mount Cavalry Christian Church in La Feria.
By early 2026, Adrian made a Google form, where anyone can submit a business that has gender-neutral or single-stall restrooms. With the help of community members, it covers other Texas areas beyond the Rio Grande Valley. He also formed a digital map to identify different spots. A concern around event safety grew to a full ongoing documentation project with over 60 records.
“It’s been great being able to get support for people to keep eyes on bathrooms that are gender-neutral; I’m able to mobilize a lot more LGBT parents … now because they realize how important it is,” he said. “After having that conversation of ‘Why are you posting so much on your Instagram about bathrooms?’ they’re like, ‘Oh, okay, I’ll start helping you,’ and this is awesome because Texas is such a huge state.”
The Office of the Attorney General’s website allows people to report on state agencies or public facilities where trans and gender nonconforming people may have used the restroom that aligns with their gender identity. This blatant policing tactic comes with no guidance on how a business/agency should enact SB 8, and that means cisgender people are also at risk, Adrian said.
“The attorney general himself, on his website, posted some instructions that are like a bounty on trans people,” he said. “He’s encouraging people to film and take pictures of trans people in the bathroom, and that, to me, does not scream privacy at all. It doesn’t scream safety. If anything, it’s going to lead to a lot of harassment and a lot of indecency.”
Additionally, this policing poses a risk to all families.
“I have already seen incidents … where a dad will be waiting for their daughter outside, like the girls’ bathroom, and they’ll be told to leave or the police will be called, so this bill is just not gonna help anyone.”
Some Texas city governments are installing gender-neutral restrooms in city buildings, like Austin’s City Council, and Adrian hopes to see RGV municipal governments follow their lead.
“I hope that our cities end up open-minded … and seeing that this is not going to help anybody,” he said. “I’m hoping that they do make gender-neutral bathrooms in these publicly-funded areas because we are all paying taxes. Trans people pay taxes all the time; we’re voters too. We contribute to society in more ways than people realize.”
With the map, Adrian hopes to inspire a sense of belonging for trans and nonbinary folx.
“There’s so many towns in Texas that are rural, and so many people that feel isolated,” he said. “Once they come upon this map, I hope they’re able to find it and use it.”
No matter how many attacks there are, LGBTQ+ community members will always come together, as they always have, Adrian promised.
“There’s so many ideas that are developing in our community to be able to make a more safer Texas for everyone. This [map] is not a new idea. Our [LGBTQ+] people in the past … had their own guides and their own underground way of having information passed, through one place to another, of what were their safe places. There’s so much history that goes into how people in the South have been able to continue to survive in their community, continue to find each other.”
Adrian welcomes community members to assist this documentation project by sharing any spots that have gender-neutral or single-stall restrooms, including gas stations and corner stores. Business owners can also highlight their gender-neutral restrooms.
