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AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas version of a North Carolina -style "bathroom bill" targeting transgender people again sputtered out. Chances of any last- minute deals extinguished when the House adjourned for good late Tuesday in a special legislative session , and although Republican Gov . Greg Abbott could order lawmakers to stay in Austin and try again, he would politically risk a third failed attempt with the rest of the country watching. Fortune 500 companies, police and sports leagues, including the NFL and NBA, have spent the year putting considerable public pressure on Texas to abandon the effort. But Abbott and other powerful Republicans have continued pushing to make Texas the first state to follow North Carolina and impose bathroom restrictions on transgender people in schools and public spaces. They've now failed twice, and in doing so, are dealing a rare loss to social conservatives who are used to getting their way in Texas. Here's how the bill came un...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas version of a North Carolina -style "bathroom bill" targeting transgender people again sputtered out Tuesday, leaving Republican Gov . Greg Abbott with little path forward this year over what became one of the most divisive measures in any U.S. legislature. Chances of any last- minute deals extinguished when the House adjourned for good in a special legislative session , and although Abbott could order lawmakers to stay in Austin and try again, he would politically risk a third failed attempt with the rest of the country watching. Fortune 500 companies, police and sports leagues, including the NFL and NBA, have spent the year putting considerable public pressure on Texas to abandon the effort. But Abbott and other powerful Republicans have continued pushing to make Texas the first state to follow North Carolina and impose bathroom restrictions on transgender people in schools and public spaces. They're now set to fail twice, and in do...

(CNN) - A controversial bill that would require people to use school restrooms and facilities that match the sex on their birth certificates has died in the Texas Legislature . The so- called bathroom bill , which transgender advocates and major Texas companies had opposed, failed to make it out of the House on Tuesday, the last day of the state's special legislative session . Senate Bill 3 had passed the state Senate earlier during the special session . The potential legislation had divided Texas Republican lawmakers , pitting ardent supporter Lt . Gov. Dan Patrick in opposition to House Speaker Joe Straus . Moderate voices said Texas would face the same backlash North Carolina did last year when it passed a similar but broader bill. North Carolina lawmakers repealed the bill in March after business groups, athletic organizations and entertainers condemned it. "We hope that this time, this issue remains settled : Texans don't want harmful, anti-transgender legislatio...

special session " /> CNN Related content (CNN) - A controversial bill that would require people to use school restrooms and facilities that match the sex on their birth certificates has died in the Texas Legislature . The so- called bathroom bill , which transgender advocates and major Texas companies had opposed, failed to make it out of the House on Tuesday, the last day of the state's special legislative session . Senate Bill 3 had passed the state Senate earlier during the special session . The potential legislation had divided Texas Republican lawmakers , pitting ardent supporter Lt . Gov. Dan Patrick in opposition to House Speaker Joe Straus . Moderate voices said Texas would face the same backlash North Carolina did last year when it passed a similar but broader bill. North Carolina lawmakers repealed the bill in March after business groups, athletic organizations and entertainers condemned it. "We hope that this time, this issue remains settled : Texans do...

Creigh Deeds, Virginia state senator . (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) He wakes up, and even before he opens his eyes, he can see his beautiful, delusional son . Gus , Creigh Deeds thinks . He lies in bed a few minutes more, trying to conjure specific images. Gus dancing. Gus playing the banjo. Gus with the puppies. Any images of Gus other than the final ones he has of his 24-year-old, mentally ill son attacking him and then walking away to kill himself, images that intrude on his days and nights along with the questions that he will begin asking himself soon, but not yet. A few minutes more. Gus fishing. Gus looking at him. Gus smiling at him. Time to start the day. He gets out of bed, where a piece of the shotgun he had taken apart in those last days of his son’s life is still hidden under the mattress. He goes outside to feed the animals, first the chickens in the yard and then the horses in the red-sided barn. He leads the blind thoroughbred outside with a bucket of feed, t...