AUSTIN, Texas — It is crunch time for Texas lawmakers with less than a week to go in the 87th legislative session. Tuesday marked another hurdle in the House, where a deadline looms to get Senate bills passed. One on the docket is a controversial measure reflecting a national movement to limit transgender youth participation in sports. 

The Senate already passed the bill on party lines, but as for the House, leadership has been largely silent on the issue. But Tuesday, there was a good chance House lawmakers could actually take it up based on the placement of the proposed legislation on the calendar. Despite Democrats trying to extend debate on other topics as much as possible, families are left on edge.  

This is not the first legislative session where Rachel Gonzalez has come to Austin.  It is the third. Capital Tonight met the Dallas resident in 2017 advocating for her daughter, Libby.  

“It is so exhausting. It is so much work. It's such a beat down as a parent to have to consistently ask our legislators to care about our kids," Gonzalez told Capital Tonight.

Now, Gonzalez is back in the Capital City to oppose a slew of bills targeting young LGBTQ Texans. That includes Senate Bill 29, a measure that seeks to force student athletes to play on sports teams based on their biological sex.  

“It doesn't really matter whether she's into sports or not. The bottom line is this is a way to target kids and not just trans kids, any kid that doesn't fit whatever someone deems as [what] a girl should look like or what a boy should look like," Gonzalez said. 

To the dismay of families and activists, the bill was placed on the calendar Tuesday. Democrats wasted no time trying to delay consideration. They seized an opportunity by adding over a dozen amendments to a GOP-led bill that would require voter approval if county officials seek to reduce law enforcement budgets.  

“Bill after bill — whether it be about abortion, whether it be about taxes, whether it be about public safety — is designed to hurt a certain group of people," said Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston. 

For some groups they would have liked to have seen SB 29 on the House floor sooner. 

"We do hope that leadership recognize how important these bills are, and we kind of are a little disappointed that these bills did fall off and that there wasn't a big, bigger push from leadership to get these bills to the finish line," Mary Castle, policy advisor for Texas Values, told Capital Tonight. 

But Castle did say the organization was pleased to see the item on the calendar and acknowledged the Democrats' tactics.

"They know the arguments are there for SB 29. They know that the votes are there to pass SB 29, and I think they're just trying to avoid having meaningful debate on saving women's sports," Castle said. 

Whether this bill or any affecting transgender children end up becoming law, it has already taken a toll on families. But Gonzalez said, considering how her daughter is supported in their Dallas community, they are not moving out of Texas. 

"Our job as parents is to love our kids without condition and fight anybody, anybody who's trying to attack them and so we will be here fighting discrimination and standing up for our kids every single time," Gonzalez said.