The city has introduced a $10,000 bounty for reporting transgender individuals who use public restrooms

This blog is originally appeared at LGBTQ Nation.

This is the first instance of a city allowing individuals to sue transgender people for using public restrooms.

The city of Odessa, Texas, has implemented a $10,000 bounty on any transgender individual who uses a restroom that corresponds with their gender identity, according to independent journalist Erin Reed.

The ordinance allows individuals—excluding local and state government officials—to sue transgender people for using bathrooms that align with their gender. The rewards for successful lawsuits include “injunctive relief sufficient to prevent the defendant from violating the provisions of this ordinance,” along with potential “nominal and compensatory damages” if the plaintiff claims to have suffered harm. The law also stipulates statutory damages of at least $10,000 for each violation, as well as court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.

While the bounty is set at a minimum of $10,000, there is no maximum limit on how much the reward could ultimately be.

In addition to the $10,000 bounty, the ordinance imposes criminal penalties on individuals who use restrooms that align with their gender identity. According to the provision, anyone violating the ordinance will be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor, subject to a fine of up to $500. If a person refuses to leave a restroom after being asked by a building owner, they could also face charges of misdemeanor trespassing.

The law defines “biological sex” based on the gender listed on birth certificates—either at birth or corrected in the case of clerical errors. This means that even if a transgender individual updates their birth certificate to reflect their gender identity, they would still be in violation of the law if they use a restroom that matches their gender.

The ordinance makes no exceptions for disabled individuals who may be accompanied by a person of a different gender, and it could open the door to lawsuits targeting anyone who appears gender non-conforming.

While bathroom bans with criminal penalties have been enacted in states like Utah and Florida, other states, such as North Dakota, have passed similar bans without clear penalties or enforcement mechanisms. Erin Reed has drawn comparisons between the Odessa bounty and Texas’ anti-abortion bounties, which allow private citizens to sue anyone who aids someone seeking an abortion. Both strategies rely on private individuals to enforce the law, bypassing government enforcement mechanisms.

Johnathan Gooch, communications director for Equality Texas, criticized the measure in an interview with the Texas Tribune: “It’s a very aggressive way to alienate trans people from public life, and I think it is counter to the spirit of friendship that most Texans embody.”

He continued, “It enables vigilantes to target anyone they don’t think matches the type of gender expression they expect to see in the bathroom, and that is truly insane.”