Evans shares her side of the story over photo
GEORGETOWN — Williamson County GOP Chairwoman Michelle Evans said she is prepared to defend herself if Travis County District Attorney José Garza pursues a case against her centered around the sharing of a controversial photo.
The New Orleans-based U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled Garza can proceed with the probe against Evans regarding a photo taken of a transgender person inside a women’s restroom at the Capitol in 2023.
Evans originally filed a restraining order and a preliminary injunction against prosecutors to prevent them from investigating her over the incident.
She faces a charge of invasive visual recording, according to reports, but Evans argues the case is legally flawed.
“This case is predicated on a couple of lies. It’s predicated on the assumption that I took the photo, which I did not,” Evans said. “There’s also the idea that somehow this is invasive visual recording.”
Under the Texas Penal Code, it is a felony to photograph, record or transmit a person’s image without consent, especially in areas, such as restrooms where people expect privacy.
“
This case is predicated on a couple of lies.”
— Michelle Evans, Williamson County Republican Party chairwoman Neither Garza, a Democrat, nor his office have responded to requests for comment. Evans told Austin radio station KLBJ the statute of limitations runs out in late spring.
“I would argue that any man who walks up into a woman’s private space is giving up his assumption of privacy because he invaded their space,” Evans said in a later interview with the Taylor Press.
She added the photo was sent to her and she posted it to her account on X.
“I tweeted that (picture) out and within a few hours it had been shared thousands of times. It got millions of views,” Evans said.
The post has since been deleted.
The incident took place in May 2023 as the third House debate was underway for Senate Bill 14 to ban gender modification for children in Texas.
During the previous debate, protestors were removed from the gallery.
“It was basically a riot,” Evans said. “We showed up the next day prepared for something similar.”
Evans said she sat with a group of older women. When they needed to use the restroom, Evans went with them because she was concerned they might run into more protestors.
As supporters of SB 14, they were all wearing red T-shirts with the words “Save Texas Kids” on them. After they entered the restroom, Evans was surprised to see what she described as a “man” come inside behind them; she informed the other women in the bathroom.
According to Evans, the newcomer used the facilities and while washing up she told the person to “use the men’s bathroom across the hall” next time.
The newcomer replied “he was legally a female,” Evans said.
Someone snapped a photo as the person, who was fully clothed, washed hands at the sink, she added.
“You couldn’t see his face, it was obscured. You could only see his pink hair,” Evans said.
A few hours later, a Department of Public Safety lieutenant at the Capitol told Evans investigators needed to speak
with her.
“He said they had received a referral from José Garza’s office to question me and so they took me to a DPS kind of holding office in the Capitol,” Evans said.
Troopers detained Evans until she agreed to turn over her phone, she said. Only then was she released to her attorney.
“We filed suit basically saying they can’t prosecute me for this. The law is not intended to protect a man in a women’s restroom, especially when that man announced he was a candidate for office,” Evans said.
Evans added while she initially was targeted as taking the photo, the complainant “later rescinded the story, but by then it was too late,” Evans said.
She still has not gotten her phone back due to the active investigation.
Evans and her attorney said they are waiting to see what Garza’s office does next. A new law passed by the 89th Legislature now makes it illegal for anyone to use a restroom in publicly owned buildings that does not conform to their biological sex at birth, a fact not lost on Evans, she indicated during her talk with the radio station.
Meanwhile, a version of SB 14 eventually passed, and Evans said she is pleased lawmakers took that step.
“Things have changed a lot in Texas since (2023) and if I played a part in getting (SB 14) passed, I’m happy to have played that part.”
