Senate Bill
SB 154
Pro-LGBTQ
Criminal offense committed against a person because of bias or prejudice on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity
Filed by Sen. José Menéndez
Why it matters: Would add gender identity to the Texas hate-crime law and replace its term 'sexual preference' with 'sexual orientation'.
Pre-filed on Nov 9, 2026. Bills are sent to committees after the session opens on Jan 12, 2027.
The road to becoming law
- Filed Nov 9, 2026
- Sent to a Senate committee
- Senate committee hearing
- Approved by the Senate committee
- Passed the Senate
- Sent to a House committee
- House committee hearing
- Approved by the House committee
- Passed the House
- Sent to the Governor
- Signed by the Governor
- Takes effect
Session at a glance: 90th Legislature, Regular Session
Pre-filing period: the session starts on Jan 12, 2027, in 62 days.
- Nov 9, 2026 Bill pre-filing opens
- Jan 12, 2027 Session convenes (day 1)
- Mar 12, 2027 Last day to file most bills (day 60)
- May 31, 2027 Session ends, "sine die" (day 140)
- Jun 20, 2027 Governor's deadline to act on bills passed in the last 10 days
Official caption
Relating to a criminal offense committed against a person because of bias or prejudice on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. (Introduced version)
Filed by
- Author
- Sen. José Menéndez
Names and chambers come from the Legislature's author reports. Each name opens the bills on our tracker that lawmaker filed or joined. Being listed is a fact about who filed or joined the bill; it is not part of any candidate's record on this site.
Every official action
| Date | Where | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 9, 2026 | Senate | Filed |
| Nov 9, 2026 | Senate | Received by the Secretary of the Senate |
Official sources
Checked against the Legislature's data Nov 11, 2026 at 6:47 AM (Central). Data: Texas Legislature Online, Texas Legislative Council.
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