The city of Odessa, Texas, has placed a $10,000 bounty on any transgender individual who uses bathrooms that align with their gender identity, according to independent journalist Erin Reed.The bounty itself reads that any person besides local and state government officials may sue a trans person using the restroom that aligns with their gender, with payments including injunctive relief sufficient to prevent the defendant from violating the provisions of this ordinance; nominal and compensatory damages if the plaintiff has suffered injury or harm from the defendants conduct; statutory damages in an amount of not less than $10,000 for each violation of this ordinance; and court costs and reasonable attorneys fees. Related Ted Cruz falsely calls 2 cis teen girls boys in desperate search for trans athletes to demonize Theyre minors and he used their pictures without their parents permission, seemingly calling them boys in girls sports. While the bounty is set to a minimum of $10,000, there is no cap on how large the bounty can be. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today In addition, there are criminal penalties for individuals who use bathrooms that align with their gender identity. The provision states that a person violating the provisions of this ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars and that anyone who refuses to use a bathroom aligned with what the city perceives as their biological sex, even after being asked to leave by a building owner, may be guilty of misdemeanor trespassing.The bounty defines biological sex based on birth certificates, either at the time of birth or corrected if there was a clerical error. This means that any transgender individual who gets their birth certificate updated to reflect their gender identity would still be violating the law if they used bathrooms that align with their gender.This ban lacks any exceptions for disabled people who may be accompanied by a person of a different gender and may open the door to lawsuits targeting anyone who is gender non-conforming. Bathroom bans with criminal penalties have been passed in states like Utah and Florida, while other states like North Dakota have bans without clear penalties or means of enforcement. Reed drew parallels between the Odessa bounty and anti-abortion bounties seen throughout Texas where people can sue anyone who aids someone who is seeking an abortion as they rely on much of the same strategy. That is, instead of having government officials who can be sued preemptively enforce a ban, they authorize private citizens to do the work of enforcing the law as a legal workaround.Johnathan Gooch, communications director for Equality Texas, told the Texas Tribune, Its 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.It enables vigilantes just to target anyone that they dont think matches the type of gender expression they expect to see in the bathroom, and that is truly insane.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.