Sacramento, California, has a brand spanking new arena that would be thrilled go book any events that Texas chooses to reject by the it's bigotry.
14
How will this be enforced at porta-potties?
5
The bathroom bill is a mean-spirited outrage, promoted by the troglodyte that is our Lt. Guv, for the sole purpose of electing and reelecting more troglodytes. Texans are tolerant; Dan Patrick is not.
9
Austin is a great city; a blue oasis in a sea of red. Here I've seen business create non-gender specific bathrooms so everyone can use them. Even bathrooms where each toilet stall is completely enclosed with a separate room for urinals. And everyone shares the sinks.
In my view, I'd be more uncomfortable with someone who appeared to be a man (but biologically female) came into the bathroom. That would be much more shocking.
I'm sure I've used the bathroom with hundreds of trans-women during my lifetime and never known. When I'm in a public restroom, I'm much more focused on using it and leaving than whether or not the woman next to me has a penis. How would I even know unless I stuck my head under the stall? Which begs the question, who are these people doing this? Who are these people who have been assaulted by trans females in the restroom?
I have a feeling the answer is none.
And how will we be enforcing this? Vaginal exams before entering?
I have so many questions and so few answers.
In my view, I'd be more uncomfortable with someone who appeared to be a man (but biologically female) came into the bathroom. That would be much more shocking.
I'm sure I've used the bathroom with hundreds of trans-women during my lifetime and never known. When I'm in a public restroom, I'm much more focused on using it and leaving than whether or not the woman next to me has a penis. How would I even know unless I stuck my head under the stall? Which begs the question, who are these people doing this? Who are these people who have been assaulted by trans females in the restroom?
I have a feeling the answer is none.
And how will we be enforcing this? Vaginal exams before entering?
I have so many questions and so few answers.
14
Today, I heard about corporal punishment in Texas (at schools) and a "gender" bill in bathrooms.
Literally Texas is the 1920s.
No other place on Earth is encouraging abuse of children at schools and confused about human rights. What a joke.
Literally Texas is the 1920s.
No other place on Earth is encouraging abuse of children at schools and confused about human rights. What a joke.
12
Texas is actually run by the Lt. Governor, who happens to be a former right wing radio shock jockey who thinks dinosaurs were on Noah's Ark and Jesus was a Republican. The bathroom bill is his concession to the iikelihood that rounding up homosexuals, latinos, and communists (democrats) for boxcar transportation to work camps would probably keep the legislature in special session all the way to labor day and he has book burnings scheduled for the last couple of weeks in August.
13
The biggest safety issue in public restrooms is people who don't wash their hands, not transgender people.
17
These are the same Republicans who loved the cowboys in Brokeback Mountain.....but would never admit it.
7
Children aside, because of their age-related limitations, and, apparently, sore lack of open-minded parents, you have to be either really, really bored, or really, really stupid, to worry about who is in the stall next to you, especially when there is absolutely no evidence of crimes associated with this tiresome issue conservatives keep shoving down the nation's collective throat.
Besides, how will this be enforced? If you saw Chaz Bono in the men's room, and didn't know better, then what is the point of having a law preventing him from being there?
And who will pay for enforcement?
Honestly, conservatives, you complain about wastes of taxpayer dollars even as you waste taxes viz. your stomping around punishing everyone you deem scary.
Ever been to Europe, where unisex bathrooms are as normal and usual as a loaf of bread?
Good grief. Grow up, conservatives. It's time to evolve.
Besides, how will this be enforced? If you saw Chaz Bono in the men's room, and didn't know better, then what is the point of having a law preventing him from being there?
And who will pay for enforcement?
Honestly, conservatives, you complain about wastes of taxpayer dollars even as you waste taxes viz. your stomping around punishing everyone you deem scary.
Ever been to Europe, where unisex bathrooms are as normal and usual as a loaf of bread?
Good grief. Grow up, conservatives. It's time to evolve.
17
The entire transgender thing reminds one of small children playing a game of pretenses. One is born male or female, one remains male or female as far as DNA can tell until and even after one's demise. Those who tamper with anatomy--nature--do so because in many cases they are wealthy and have some insatiable need for attention and notoriety. Why should society at large be hostage to an individual's aberrant dysmorphic problems, having to turn up the boo-hoo machine because poor so-and-so can't relieve him/herself in the urinal like all the other guys?
4
If this is the most urgent problem Texas is facing they are one lucky state.
6
Really?
What is wrong with these people? Is there anything that expands humanity to others they won't fight? The ignorance is blinding.
But then they do have Ted Cruz and Rick Perry...
What is wrong with these people? Is there anything that expands humanity to others they won't fight? The ignorance is blinding.
But then they do have Ted Cruz and Rick Perry...
9
Ironically, the Texas law would normalize men using the women's restroom. Right now, transgender people self sort by which gender they look like. When that goes, men will go in the women's room, and cisgender men will blend with the transgender men forced to use it by law.
6
If everyone has to use the bathroom labeled with the gender that corresponds to that on his or her birth certificate, does that mean mothers will no longer be permitted to bring their small sons into the Ladies' room with them? Great thinking on how to protect those kids from sexual predators, Texas - send those four year old boys, unaccompanied, into the Men's room! Good luck!
7
A few years ago. then Texas Governor Rick Perry stood behind the podium and announced before a herd of rampaging Tea Partiers that secession was on the table...
Why didn't we take him up on it?
Why didn't we take him up on it?
8
There's far more evidence of church leaders engaging in criminal sexual activities with minors than any trans individuals ,yet Lt Gov Patrick and his ignorant minions say and do nothing about this very real problem. Instead they squander tax dollars on false issues to ram their dystopian vision of right and wrong down the throats of Texans.In the mean time real progress on real issues is ignored and vilified by these denizens of darkness.
10
Families are struggling with the inability to afford medication, a decent place to live and food...yet Texas wastes money and time on a non issue. Brilliant.
4
GOP Party leader Holcomb, described the law as "common-sense." It is not. It is Jim Crow's cousin. Said Trayce Bradford, president of the Texas Eagle Forum, “It’s about feeling safe."
Holcomb, Bradford, and their socially-regressive ilk demand laws that pander to their feelings – which make sense to them - regardless of facts – which don't. Show me the crime statistics documenting bathroom-based assaults perpetrated by transgender individuals. Got ANY? In fact the stats show trans folks are commonly the victims. But the social-regressives don't care.
Many people in Money, MS did not "feel safe" until Emmett Till was lynched.
Holcomb, Bradford, and their socially-regressive ilk demand laws that pander to their feelings – which make sense to them - regardless of facts – which don't. Show me the crime statistics documenting bathroom-based assaults perpetrated by transgender individuals. Got ANY? In fact the stats show trans folks are commonly the victims. But the social-regressives don't care.
Many people in Money, MS did not "feel safe" until Emmett Till was lynched.
6
So transgender men need to use the women's restroom? How does that help women feel that their privacy and safety are preserved? And a transgender woman must use the men's room and walk by the men pulling out their privates at the urinal? Maybe the Texas congressmen need to do a dry run in their Capitol restrooms and figure out how this is supposed to work.
Texas must be competing to be the number one laughingstock state in the Union. I guess millions of Texans would rather live in a state where discrimination, radical right-wing extremists and elimination of healthcare for women and children are tolerable, just as long as there is no state income tax, cheap housing and they can open carry their firearms.
Texas must be competing to be the number one laughingstock state in the Union. I guess millions of Texans would rather live in a state where discrimination, radical right-wing extremists and elimination of healthcare for women and children are tolerable, just as long as there is no state income tax, cheap housing and they can open carry their firearms.
9
Really, someone is going to pretend to be transgender just to have the chance to legally look at the opposite sex going to the bathroom? Considering the nasty attitude so many have toward transgender people, someone who pretends to be trans for that reason has more mental problems than the "conservatives" think a genuinely transgender person has.
3
Please stop trying to justify your pathetic bill by suggesting it's about protecting women and girls. As a woman, and the mother of a little girl, your rhetoric is insulting and patronizing. We know what your bill is about: discrimination and demonization of the LGBT community. It has nothing to do with protecting anyone.
11
Im a transgender woman and even to me this bill is surreal. I cant believe that we as civilized people are even debatign whether to force transgender people into bathrooms that will humiliate and degrade them.
As.a side note, HB2 resulted in exactly ZERO arrests. I will continue to use the womens restroom regardless of what any law says. I refuse to denigrate my being just because I need to take a pee.
The only purpose of this law is to codify discrimination and deny that we do exist and that we do deserve equality.
As.a side note, HB2 resulted in exactly ZERO arrests. I will continue to use the womens restroom regardless of what any law says. I refuse to denigrate my being just because I need to take a pee.
The only purpose of this law is to codify discrimination and deny that we do exist and that we do deserve equality.
9
The arguments for these bathroom bill show a total ignorance of the makeup of a transgender person. The birthers think there is still a male in the trans female. So they basically picture a man in women' clothes in the ladies' room who is sexually attracted to women. Totally wrong. The trans person is changing gender because he/she feels totally female or male, including sexually, but inhabits the opposite body. So, that trans woman in the ladies room is attracted to men just like most of the other women in there.
What this bathroom movement is doing is basically placing women in the men's room and men in the ladies room. If sexual attraction is the issue, these trans and LGB bashers need to understand the nature of the people they oppose. The supreme irony in this attack on trans people is that they ignore the larger population of gay men and lesbians.
One 1 of 25 men in the men's room or women in the ladies' room are attracted to the gender in that rest room. Only 1 in 133 people entering the rest room is trans, and they are not attracted to the gender in their in their trans identity rest room. This ignorance is wasting a lot of time and energy, while people are dying and infrastructures are crumbling.
What this bathroom movement is doing is basically placing women in the men's room and men in the ladies room. If sexual attraction is the issue, these trans and LGB bashers need to understand the nature of the people they oppose. The supreme irony in this attack on trans people is that they ignore the larger population of gay men and lesbians.
One 1 of 25 men in the men's room or women in the ladies' room are attracted to the gender in that rest room. Only 1 in 133 people entering the rest room is trans, and they are not attracted to the gender in their in their trans identity rest room. This ignorance is wasting a lot of time and energy, while people are dying and infrastructures are crumbling.
5
All you have to know about any issue like this raised in Texas is to count how many times the term "Republican" is mentioned. It doesn't matter whether "moderate", "conservative" or radical hair-on-fire tea party hack bears the label. The money wasting, silly legislation like this potty box bill, the gerrymandering and voter suppression and the general negation of representative democracy in this once great state all comes from the same source, the GOP. Sam Houston would have had them all shot by now.
6
If they are smart they will flush this bill down the drain or join NC in backlash.
2
This is another chapter in the conservative scourge on America. Rise, Resist, Repeat.
3
The impact of religiously based hate and bigotry here in Texas is profound, and this is just one example. Conservative politicians like talk radio host Dan Patrick ride angry Christianity like a cow pony into office. Please help teach these people respect for human dignity by boycotting travel and spending in Texas as long as this bathroom bill is considered and especially if it passes.
4
Come on, Patrick. No one wants predators masquerading as women sneaking into women's toilets. That's why it's not a "predators masquerading as women" bill. It's a transgender bill, and transgender men and women are neither predators nor masqueradors Rather, they are vulnerable citizens and deserve protection.
4
Yes, all those old white men need to protect the womenfolk. ignoring that there are male transgender individuals (categorized as women at birth) but apparently men are self-suficient enough to handle that issue in a restroom all by their little selves.
2
Texas has been on a downward spiral. This goes for their loosening of gun laws and their anti-choice laws as well.
3
Protest with your wallet sports teams and big business... until Texas turns blue what's the point of pouring money into that state
1
"Texas Bathroom Bill Has Emotions, and Stakes, Running High"
Why does the media continue referring to these legislative proposals as bathroom bills? As the article makes clear the Texas legislation if passed would require transgender people to use bathrooms, locker rooms and showers that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate, as opposed to their gender identity. Why not substitute changing or shower room instead since these locations are where privacy is the biggest issue? Compared to bathrooms there aren't many with individual stalls.
In regards to this issue in general I never dreamed to witness the day that one would have the option to determine their gender by identity instead of biology and use public facilities according to how they feel on any particular day. What a sex predators' dream. The left has opened the door for them to have access to any little girl or boy they want and nobody can stop them. All under the guise of making the transgender feel comfortable and safe. In their view everyone else is unimportant and should just learn to accept it. Object and you are an intolerant bigot. In this instance I'll wear it as a badge of honor. Want to be something that you're not and use facilities of the opposite sex? Get an operation and change to your birth certificate. Then we know you're serious and the doors won't be opened to predators who don't have your issues.
Why does the media continue referring to these legislative proposals as bathroom bills? As the article makes clear the Texas legislation if passed would require transgender people to use bathrooms, locker rooms and showers that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate, as opposed to their gender identity. Why not substitute changing or shower room instead since these locations are where privacy is the biggest issue? Compared to bathrooms there aren't many with individual stalls.
In regards to this issue in general I never dreamed to witness the day that one would have the option to determine their gender by identity instead of biology and use public facilities according to how they feel on any particular day. What a sex predators' dream. The left has opened the door for them to have access to any little girl or boy they want and nobody can stop them. All under the guise of making the transgender feel comfortable and safe. In their view everyone else is unimportant and should just learn to accept it. Object and you are an intolerant bigot. In this instance I'll wear it as a badge of honor. Want to be something that you're not and use facilities of the opposite sex? Get an operation and change to your birth certificate. Then we know you're serious and the doors won't be opened to predators who don't have your issues.
1
For all Texans who point to the Bible as their compass, Sunday-go-to-meeting Texans blessed with salvation from a merciful, all-loving, all-forgiving Christ and every true Christian who proclaims Texas as God's Own Country, what's with this hallelujah of hate?
Check the mirror. Is it the reflection of a true Christian? Or a contorted anti-Christ, snarling hate in sheep's clothing? Hoarding God's mercy for their own salvation while denying it to others?
The state legislature -- fellow Texans entrusted to represent all that Christian faith stands for -- no longer is a temple consecrated to serve all of God's children, especially the most forgotten, vulnerable, those in most need of succor and affirmation. It's a temple of money-hustlers, sadistic poseurs, a viper pit built Texas-big, bigger than the US Capitol.
In the name of Christians and in the name of Christ, Texas legislators exult in their vile cruelty by stoning those who Christ most closely embraced because they were despised and abandoned. If you live in Christ and cannot love those who may be hardest to love, you defy your Savior and defile his Word.
Christ warned of false prophets who profit from his Word and twist his teachings to serve their purpose. And he warned of the danger of making judgments that are only God's to make.
Texans can never truly love God if they keep acting like God.
Don't mess with Texas? They're doing a great job all by themselves.
Check the mirror. Is it the reflection of a true Christian? Or a contorted anti-Christ, snarling hate in sheep's clothing? Hoarding God's mercy for their own salvation while denying it to others?
The state legislature -- fellow Texans entrusted to represent all that Christian faith stands for -- no longer is a temple consecrated to serve all of God's children, especially the most forgotten, vulnerable, those in most need of succor and affirmation. It's a temple of money-hustlers, sadistic poseurs, a viper pit built Texas-big, bigger than the US Capitol.
In the name of Christians and in the name of Christ, Texas legislators exult in their vile cruelty by stoning those who Christ most closely embraced because they were despised and abandoned. If you live in Christ and cannot love those who may be hardest to love, you defy your Savior and defile his Word.
Christ warned of false prophets who profit from his Word and twist his teachings to serve their purpose. And he warned of the danger of making judgments that are only God's to make.
Texans can never truly love God if they keep acting like God.
Don't mess with Texas? They're doing a great job all by themselves.
7
I'm a Texan & a Republican. This move to hurt transgender folks makes me feel ashamed.
15
Trans people need to use bathrooms, because trans people are people. And any time a transgender person enters a public bathroom, I guarantee you s/he is the most vulnerable person there. For many trans people, choosing a bathroom means picking the safest option-- which can often be the opposite bathroom of the one they would have been assigned to use based on their sex at birth. It's not about a fetish; it's about getting to pee without getting beaten up.
This bill, by aiming to make it impossible for trans people to choose the public facility where they will feel safe, where they will not be harmed, has a broader aim: to let trans people know that Texas does not recognize our most basic rights. The state wants us not to exist there.
This bill, by aiming to make it impossible for trans people to choose the public facility where they will feel safe, where they will not be harmed, has a broader aim: to let trans people know that Texas does not recognize our most basic rights. The state wants us not to exist there.
7
Why are these people always so concerned with what is going on in the stall next to them?
Unless a person is going to open the door on another person, how would one even know?
Most people, including transgenders, are private in the bathroom, and respect the privacy of others.
It shouldn't be this hard.
Unless a person is going to open the door on another person, how would one even know?
Most people, including transgenders, are private in the bathroom, and respect the privacy of others.
It shouldn't be this hard.
6
This bill a despicable, crazy waste of time and represents a gross attack against human dignity by strange people who seem to have nothing better to do. It is baffling why transgender persons engender such strong reactions of fear and hatred. Patrick and the whole streaming mess of ultra conservatives Republicans should use their overheated imaginations to get some work done - like passing infrastructure bills that provide funds to fill the enormous number of potholes peppering Texas roads and highways. While they are at it, they can start filling the ones in their heads – a daunting task to be sure.
It is odd that Patrick, et al, have completely ignored the plight of North Carolina when similar laws were passed in that state. It is strange that the all the businesses and other institutions that have come out against the bill in Texas are being ignored not to mention all of the conventions that are, and will be cancelled.
Wait till state begins hemorrhaging money. At that point, frank greed will likely force the law to be rescinded. Although greed is an attribute that crosses party lines, it is one that is always seen in ignoramus, alt-right Republicans.
It is odd that Patrick, et al, have completely ignored the plight of North Carolina when similar laws were passed in that state. It is strange that the all the businesses and other institutions that have come out against the bill in Texas are being ignored not to mention all of the conventions that are, and will be cancelled.
Wait till state begins hemorrhaging money. At that point, frank greed will likely force the law to be rescinded. Although greed is an attribute that crosses party lines, it is one that is always seen in ignoramus, alt-right Republicans.
6
This is bigotry against the LGBT community by Christian conservatives, pure and simple. The morals police in Texas want everyone to live according to their own narrow minded bigoted view of the world. No one has ever been bothered by a trans person in a bathroom. The Texas legislature should deal with real problems instead.
3
So they WANT a transgender male to use the women's bathroom? Seriously? How does that protect the "womenfolk"? The fact that this whole debate seems to be totally focused on women's privacy and safety does not speak well for men in general, which actually highlights concerns transgender women might have about predatory men. The fundamental problem is that many people still have a really hard time understanding or accepting that gender identity is not a choice.
2
Many commenters assert that people will have to carry birth certificates with them to Texas bathrooms or that guards will have to be stationed outside of Texas bathrooms. However, the bathroom bill doesn’t impose punishment or fines on people for using the wrong restrooms. It imposes fines on state agencies and public schools that fail to segregate multi-occupancy facilities by sex. The state would investigate complaints against state agencies and public schools that fail to comply. This isn’t a huge problem. Texas agencies and public schools have been segregating multi-occupancy bathrooms, locker rooms and shower rooms for many generations. For example, female and male athletes don’t share the same locer rooms at the University of Texas.
1
Just keep in mind that after Texas' clown car of a legislature passes the bill, and it is appealed to SCOTUS, the proponents do have Neil Gorsuch on their side.
2
How many of our problems aren't problems at all, just money? Now, I know for certain people money is all there is because they express everything in terms of money. Like in health care. Where spending money others is a problem where money is more values than life and well being.
However in this case the entire problem could have been, can be, avoided with individual bathrooms rather than building common spaces for our most private activity. Over the years we've come to accept this even as our abilities and wealth grew as the norm rather than saying - no, we are human beings we deserve better than to share our bodily functions with others within sight or earshot.
Isn't it all about money? Wouldn't a little money make it all go away? One day I was a new restaurant in the Seaport District that solved the problem very neatly. There were no mens or ladies rooms. Just a set of individual doors, each containing a small bath room with a toilet, sink, and mirror. No common rooms. Each individual. Perfect. Was it more costly? I am sure it was - but really how much more since common rooms have multiple sinks and toilets and in nice places the "stalls" are real little rooms with walls and trim and everything. Sure it would be costly to retrofit but new places could be built to eliminate any problem. And put an end to the day to day discomfort of those who don't like "doing their business" while others are nearby.
However in this case the entire problem could have been, can be, avoided with individual bathrooms rather than building common spaces for our most private activity. Over the years we've come to accept this even as our abilities and wealth grew as the norm rather than saying - no, we are human beings we deserve better than to share our bodily functions with others within sight or earshot.
Isn't it all about money? Wouldn't a little money make it all go away? One day I was a new restaurant in the Seaport District that solved the problem very neatly. There were no mens or ladies rooms. Just a set of individual doors, each containing a small bath room with a toilet, sink, and mirror. No common rooms. Each individual. Perfect. Was it more costly? I am sure it was - but really how much more since common rooms have multiple sinks and toilets and in nice places the "stalls" are real little rooms with walls and trim and everything. Sure it would be costly to retrofit but new places could be built to eliminate any problem. And put an end to the day to day discomfort of those who don't like "doing their business" while others are nearby.
1
The primary impetus behind the proposed Texas bathroom laws is sexual modesty, not free of sexual predators. Most women simply don’t’ want to share restrooms with men and most men don’t want to share restrooms with women. However, security is a valid concern. Transgender people can be heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual. Research conducted at the University of Minnesota “suggests that the breakdown of sexualities among transsexual women—men who gender identify as female—is 38% bisexual, 35% attracted to women, and 27% attracted to men.” This means that 73 percent of transgender women are sexually attracted to women and 35 percent are exclusively attracted exclusively to women. This is one reason only a tiny percent of transgender women undergo sexual-reassignment surgery. Their male sex organs are essential to their sex lives.
3
As a San Antonian who was at the State Capitol and sat through the testimony, most of those who testified spoke eloquently AGAINST SB 3 and SB 91. Only a smattering of people spoke in support. Unfortunately, citizens have no sway when it comes to arguing the political agenda of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and others at these hearings. Change happens at the ballot box.
2
Republicans, as always, are trying to distract us from their opposition to essentially any public policy that could improve our day-to-day lives. The latest diversion is these bathroom bills.
As every woman knows all too well, the major rape threat is from heterosexual males. So, what the so-called socially conservative bill will do, is give heterosexual male sexual predators cover for going into women's rooms; if they are caught, rather than be subject to removal, under the bill they could falsely claim that they are transgender and just following the law.
A real transgender man would not go into the women's room.
As every woman knows all too well, the major rape threat is from heterosexual males. So, what the so-called socially conservative bill will do, is give heterosexual male sexual predators cover for going into women's rooms; if they are caught, rather than be subject to removal, under the bill they could falsely claim that they are transgender and just following the law.
A real transgender man would not go into the women's room.
We have had unisex loos over here for decades, just like those in homes are used by everybody.
I don't understand why this is a big deal.
You can't 'catch' transgender.
I don't understand why this is a big deal.
You can't 'catch' transgender.
9
We have them here, too, Amy. This type of legislation casts us in a ridiculous light. I'm sorry you in the Gold Coast and all over the rest of the world have to see this. Please understand we're not all like this!
3
The Texas bill permits state agencies and pubic schools to provide single-occupancy unisex bathrooms, but requires them to segregate multi-occupancy restroom by sex. Does your country prohibit men-only or women-only restrooms.
This is a ludicrous non-issue, and a national embarrassment, feeding on the paranoia of the 'Christian' alt-right and serving no one, least of all the self-proclaimed harbingers of faith. Wake up, America! This is just another poorly veiled sideshow of the Teapot movement, the fifth column of Fox News, Trump and the Wall Street Casino Boys striking back at civil society and the rule of law in the land.
6
I have scoured the internet in search of cases where transgendered people have attacked persons while in a public restroom. Zero. There have been zero cases of this happening.
Nice job, Republicans. Yet another solution to a non-existent problem. I guess that’s all you’re good for.
Nice job, Republicans. Yet another solution to a non-existent problem. I guess that’s all you’re good for.
19
There are no statistics on transgender crime because the police and courts do not recognize gender identity. Transgender women are booked, indicted and convicted as men. However, it's well known that transgender people commit the same sort of crimes as non-transgender people.
“It’s about feeling safe. There has to be some boundaries.” - Trayce Bradford, the president of a conservative group
Safety? What safety would exist for the transgendered woman in a men's bathroom? Transgendered and gay individuals have much more to fear from those "God-fearing" people than the other way around where in some places "gay bashing" is sport. Sometimes I wonder if these laws serve to put [pejorative names spoken by the bill's supporters here] in the men's room so they can be "taught a lesson".
Have these people really thought out these bills? In the ladies room we'd have people presenting themselves as men. With testosterone - a known aggression factor. Also mothers wouldn't be allowed to take their young boys into the bathrooms with them. They'll have to send their young boys into the "big boy's room". Alone. Or will the law be ignored?
Here in my own state there have been horrific murders of women and other crimes in the ladies room. Every one of them has been carried out by straight male predators. They weren't pretending to be women or dressed up, just using the bathroom as their hunting grounds. It isn't the transgendered woman who works in the same office as me that I fear. She only wants to fit in, not to be noticed or be different. It is the lurking predators I fear. Sure, the bill would ban them too, but unless you are going to post armed guards at the bathroom doors than how will the bill stop that?
Safety? What safety would exist for the transgendered woman in a men's bathroom? Transgendered and gay individuals have much more to fear from those "God-fearing" people than the other way around where in some places "gay bashing" is sport. Sometimes I wonder if these laws serve to put [pejorative names spoken by the bill's supporters here] in the men's room so they can be "taught a lesson".
Have these people really thought out these bills? In the ladies room we'd have people presenting themselves as men. With testosterone - a known aggression factor. Also mothers wouldn't be allowed to take their young boys into the bathrooms with them. They'll have to send their young boys into the "big boy's room". Alone. Or will the law be ignored?
Here in my own state there have been horrific murders of women and other crimes in the ladies room. Every one of them has been carried out by straight male predators. They weren't pretending to be women or dressed up, just using the bathroom as their hunting grounds. It isn't the transgendered woman who works in the same office as me that I fear. She only wants to fit in, not to be noticed or be different. It is the lurking predators I fear. Sure, the bill would ban them too, but unless you are going to post armed guards at the bathroom doors than how will the bill stop that?
9
As a resident of Texas I am appalled both by this bill and by the food of ignorance, misinformation and outright lies about transgender individuals, I wold encourage everyone outside of Texas to boycott this state until our legislature comes to its senses.
10
As a native of nearby Tyler, I'm shocked that any resident of Flint, TX would have such an admirable opinion. East Texans who don't support Crazy Louie Gohmert (R-Tyler) and gay-bashin' Dan Patrick are rarer than hens' teeth.
3
"Ms. Bradford, who said she was stalked and sexually assaulted in college, said conservative activists have been unfairly accused of spreading hate by backing the legislation."
As someone who was stalked in college, although thankfully not assaulted, I am sorry Ms. Bradford had to endure what she did. But unless her perpetrator was a transgender person, what does her experience have to do with the ban? The person stalking me was a heterosexual, cis-gender male. If he had pursued me into the bathroom, the laws protecting me are already in existence....the ones against sexual harassment, assault, stalking, etc.
Face it.....supporters of the ban are making things up without any proof or evidence. This is similar to the old, now-discredited trope that people who are gay are pedophiles. Now it's if you are transgender, you're more likely to commit sexual assault in bathrooms. Scientific studies show that conservatively leaning folks have brains that are more sensitive to perceiving threats, true or false, than others and this stupid law proves that.
As someone who was stalked in college, although thankfully not assaulted, I am sorry Ms. Bradford had to endure what she did. But unless her perpetrator was a transgender person, what does her experience have to do with the ban? The person stalking me was a heterosexual, cis-gender male. If he had pursued me into the bathroom, the laws protecting me are already in existence....the ones against sexual harassment, assault, stalking, etc.
Face it.....supporters of the ban are making things up without any proof or evidence. This is similar to the old, now-discredited trope that people who are gay are pedophiles. Now it's if you are transgender, you're more likely to commit sexual assault in bathrooms. Scientific studies show that conservatively leaning folks have brains that are more sensitive to perceiving threats, true or false, than others and this stupid law proves that.
7
Social conservatives have a long standing habit of disguising their prejudice in the guise of some mainstream concern in an attempt to make it politically palatable. In this case it's safety.
The idea that a male sexual predator would defend his access to a public restroom by passing himself off as transgender is completely ludicrous.
The idea that a male sexual predator would defend his access to a public restroom by passing himself off as transgender is completely ludicrous.
8
While I am grateful to the NYT for covering this story, I do not feet that this article accurately reflects the ratio of supporters and opponents who testified in Austin on Friday (for ten hours). Reports in Texas papers (the San Antonio Express News) suggest that opponents far outnumbered supporters, but your article quotes equally from both groups. False equivalence? I think this is an important point because the 8-1 senate committee vote in favor of SB3 is at odds with public opinion. Most Texans feel this is a non-issue.
11
Texas has been segregating public bathrooms, changing rooms and shower rooms by sex since it grew urbane enough to provide public facilities. Even though no state law required them to do so, Texans put up millions of signs on public bathroom doors that designated them for men exclusively or females exclusively. This far outweighs the small number of protestors who showed up in Austin to protest the bill.
Have unisex bathrooms / shower rooms with stalls only.
4
Common bathrooms are in Europe with no issues.
3
Well, European countries also have universal healthcare. All we've got in the US is God, guns, and gay-bashing, minority/poor-hating Republicans who want to kick tens of millions of Americans off health insurance.
3
Europe also provides public restrooms segregated by sex. If a woman wants, she can usually find a multiple-occupancy restroom for women only or a single-occupancy restroom.
Okay, so what’s really wrong with transgender bathrooms?
What possible “contamination” can a transgender person spread in the process of performing a normal action in a common location? Are we really worried about the spread of bodily fluids? Are transgender bathroom users known to be particularly “untidy?” I think not. That effort has largely been covered by the weekend’s heavy drinkers.
And as far as we know, no one has ever gotten pregnant from using a public bathroom. Venereal disease are especially tricky to acquire from a toilet, and other microbes are hard to pick up if your are observant (see “Well” June 12, 20015 Catching a Disease from a Toilet Seat).
Rape in a public bathroom by a transgender individual? It is more likely a heterosexual male masqueradering as a woman penetrating that private bathroom space. (see” Time Magazine,” May 2, 2016. “Why LGBT Advocates Say Bathroom 'Predators' Argument Is a Red Herring)
But none of these concerns are tied, even indirectly, to someone who is transgender. There is no movement out there practiced by transgender people to infect the general public with their bodily fluids. None; stop worrying. And even if there were, you couldn’t catch anything different from a transgender individual than what you could catch from a heterosexual one.
I mean, seriously, when was the last time you worried about who used the public bathroom after you? Now that’s something to be concerned about.
What possible “contamination” can a transgender person spread in the process of performing a normal action in a common location? Are we really worried about the spread of bodily fluids? Are transgender bathroom users known to be particularly “untidy?” I think not. That effort has largely been covered by the weekend’s heavy drinkers.
And as far as we know, no one has ever gotten pregnant from using a public bathroom. Venereal disease are especially tricky to acquire from a toilet, and other microbes are hard to pick up if your are observant (see “Well” June 12, 20015 Catching a Disease from a Toilet Seat).
Rape in a public bathroom by a transgender individual? It is more likely a heterosexual male masqueradering as a woman penetrating that private bathroom space. (see” Time Magazine,” May 2, 2016. “Why LGBT Advocates Say Bathroom 'Predators' Argument Is a Red Herring)
But none of these concerns are tied, even indirectly, to someone who is transgender. There is no movement out there practiced by transgender people to infect the general public with their bodily fluids. None; stop worrying. And even if there were, you couldn’t catch anything different from a transgender individual than what you could catch from a heterosexual one.
I mean, seriously, when was the last time you worried about who used the public bathroom after you? Now that’s something to be concerned about.
7
If your read the bill, you would discover it makes no mention of body fluids or venereal disease and that its primary concern isn't sexual assault. Most women don't want to share bathrooms, locker rooms or shower rooms with men out of a sense of sexual modesty. Many men don't want to share these facilities with women for the same reason. You see signs on multi-occupancy restroom doors across the nation that read "MEN" or "WOMEN." But you don't see signs on multi-occupancy bathroom doors that read "MEN & WOMEN. This signifies a consensus of opinion on the issue.
1
Your arguments are based upon logic and common sense. Bills like this, however, are based on irrational fears and deeply held prejudices. Just as in NC, I'm sure, this effort is primarily intended to solidify the support of the rabid fundamentalist base in Texas - a significant percentage of the state's voting public, no doubt.
The actual "threats" to anyone's bathroom safety are essentially nonexistent. It's all about appealing to raw emotion, and establishing political wannabes' bona fides as protectors of "Christian values." It still strikes me as being more than a little puzzling that the same people who support this kind of unnecessary and uncalled for prophylaxis were readily willing to excuse Mr. Trump's self-proclaimed, actual assaults on women. I'd really like someone to explain that one for me.
The actual "threats" to anyone's bathroom safety are essentially nonexistent. It's all about appealing to raw emotion, and establishing political wannabes' bona fides as protectors of "Christian values." It still strikes me as being more than a little puzzling that the same people who support this kind of unnecessary and uncalled for prophylaxis were readily willing to excuse Mr. Trump's self-proclaimed, actual assaults on women. I'd really like someone to explain that one for me.
2
Seems to me this means anyone, regardless of physical appearance, who goes to school in, changes planes in or uses a public restroom in Texas, needs to carry a copy of their birth certificate in case he\she needs to prove they are complying with the law. Not surprised Texas would institute a pass book system.
3
No. Under the Texas bathroom bill, police wouldn't try to catch people entering the wrong bathroom. The bill only punishes state agencies and public schools that fail to segregate provide multi-occupancy bathrooms by sex. The state would investigate complains against these agencies and schools, not individual who use the wrong bathrooms.
This is much less about transgender people and far more about trying shore up traditional gender roles. It seeks to control women and impose a sense of fear and vulnerability in an attempt to play men as their protectors and subjugate women in the process.
8
There are M to F and F to M transitioning folks. It's not solely targeted toward women, but all people.
1
GOP legislators in Texas once again prove how much political capital there is to be made by braying about wanting to "protect their womenfolk" from anything they decide is a "danger" no matter what the women feel about it. Whether taking away reproductive health services for women, promoting abstinence only sex education in public schools or telling women and girls to "be afraid, be very afraid" of nonexistent transgendered sexual predators in restrooms, Texas politicians are really all about controlling women and apparently not much else.
14
Fear of sexual assault isn't the primary impetus behind the Texas bathroom bill. Most Texas women don't want to share bathrooms, locker rooms and shower rooms with men out of a sense of sexual modesty. However, transgendered sexual predators are not nonexistent. Transgender individuals commit the same sort of crimes as non-transgender individuals, including rape, robbery and murder.
2
@William Case
How about providing some data to back up that claim? Secondly, you do realize that the percentage of transgender people who identify as MALE (i.e., gender at birth = female) is significantly greater than the percentage who birth males who identify as female. Then again, you probably don't. Regardless of your level of ignorance, though, where is the outcry over the threats to men having their restrooms invaded by "women masquerading as men?" Oh, the horror!
How about providing some data to back up that claim? Secondly, you do realize that the percentage of transgender people who identify as MALE (i.e., gender at birth = female) is significantly greater than the percentage who birth males who identify as female. Then again, you probably don't. Regardless of your level of ignorance, though, where is the outcry over the threats to men having their restrooms invaded by "women masquerading as men?" Oh, the horror!
2
As a Texan this is just embarrassing. Understand the man leading this charge, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, started his career as a sportscaster in Houston. He graduated to talk radio and then into state politics. He will likely become our next governor. I shudder to think.
No one wants to imperil girls and women using bathrooms. Sadly, there are bad actors who do stalk and infiltrate the girls room. But unless there is a police official staged at every bathroom in every building across the state checking birth certificates, these bad actors will still act badly. There is no way to enforce this law. And the result is embarrassment to our state, and the potential loss of millions if not billions of dollars as businesses, visitors, concerts, conventions simply go elsewhere. But our Lt. governor will have "won". Unbelievable.
No one wants to imperil girls and women using bathrooms. Sadly, there are bad actors who do stalk and infiltrate the girls room. But unless there is a police official staged at every bathroom in every building across the state checking birth certificates, these bad actors will still act badly. There is no way to enforce this law. And the result is embarrassment to our state, and the potential loss of millions if not billions of dollars as businesses, visitors, concerts, conventions simply go elsewhere. But our Lt. governor will have "won". Unbelievable.
9
America has been segregating public bathrooms by sex for centuries. It's been easy to enforce. When people complain a man is in the women's room or a woman is in the men's room, management ask the man or woman to leave. They almost always leave, but if they refuse to comply, management calls police. Police seldom make arrests. They just escort the man or woman off the premises.
1
I know any number of women who have used the men's room when the line for the women's room was too long. When you have to go you have to go, particularly when you are pregnant.
4
@William Case...your logic dictates that police will now be called anytime a transgender person uses a bathroom for the gender on his/her birth certificate.
2
I found this part of the article interesting:
Ms. Bradford, who said she was stalked and sexually assaulted in college, said conservative activists have been unfairly accused of spreading hate by backing the legislation. “I don’t know of any conservative who wants to serve as the potty police,” she said.
I'm sorry for Ms. Bradford's suffering AND I doubt that she was stalked and sexually assaulted by a transgender person. If she and other conservatives who are pushing this legislation really want to help women to feel safe, they should put their energy into doing everything they can to protect women from the aggression of heterosexual men, who CAN BE a genuine threat to their safety. Stop chasing ghosts that are projections of your prejudice and be honest about the real threats to women and girls.
Ms. Bradford, who said she was stalked and sexually assaulted in college, said conservative activists have been unfairly accused of spreading hate by backing the legislation. “I don’t know of any conservative who wants to serve as the potty police,” she said.
I'm sorry for Ms. Bradford's suffering AND I doubt that she was stalked and sexually assaulted by a transgender person. If she and other conservatives who are pushing this legislation really want to help women to feel safe, they should put their energy into doing everything they can to protect women from the aggression of heterosexual men, who CAN BE a genuine threat to their safety. Stop chasing ghosts that are projections of your prejudice and be honest about the real threats to women and girls.
14
It's not just fear of sexual assault . Most women don't want to share public bathrooms, locker rooms and shower rooms with men out of a sense of sexual modesty. It's not because they hate men.
1
William. I've been in a bathroom with a transgender person. Have you? Since a trans woman obviously looks like a woman, it was completely natural for her to be in the restroom with me. She would have been out of place in a men's room. Are you totally unconcerned for her safety? Why? Because you get the willies?
1
There's an upside to everything - even this stupid bill. And the upside is JOBS, JOBS, JOBS for Texans. It is, in fact a Texas jobs program in disguise.
How will this bill be enforced? There will need to be a person outside each and every bathroom (men's and women's) 24/7 to check gender before entering to do one's bidness. That's three, 8 hour shifts (Minimum wage, but I hope they unionize,; can't wait for the strike). Then you will need supervisors, people to train the check-it-out crew. And of course funds to do all this, funds for the liability insurance when checker is too into doing his/her job, and a department in the government.
Question - How exactly do the checkers check before one gets to go into the public bathroom? An how long will all this take? And who cleans up the accidents?
How will this bill be enforced? There will need to be a person outside each and every bathroom (men's and women's) 24/7 to check gender before entering to do one's bidness. That's three, 8 hour shifts (Minimum wage, but I hope they unionize,; can't wait for the strike). Then you will need supervisors, people to train the check-it-out crew. And of course funds to do all this, funds for the liability insurance when checker is too into doing his/her job, and a department in the government.
Question - How exactly do the checkers check before one gets to go into the public bathroom? An how long will all this take? And who cleans up the accidents?
3
To tell you the truth, Finnie, these old boys seem so concerned for their women that I don't believe a quick glance at an easily forged birth certificate will satisfy their worried minds.
I believe we're looking at a skirts up/drop trou regimen here, and that means multiple people at each rest room door. Because when one is checking out the, um, applicants, another has to secure the entrance.
I assume they will have the guards in appropriate dress for whatever bathroom they happen to be securing that day, so double uniform costs.
You're right. This could make Texas great, for a change.
I believe we're looking at a skirts up/drop trou regimen here, and that means multiple people at each rest room door. Because when one is checking out the, um, applicants, another has to secure the entrance.
I assume they will have the guards in appropriate dress for whatever bathroom they happen to be securing that day, so double uniform costs.
You're right. This could make Texas great, for a change.
2
America has been segregating public, multi-occupancy restrooms by sex for centuries. It doesn't require guards at bathroom doors. People simply complain to management when they see a man in the women's room or a woman in the men's room. Managements ask the man or woman to leave. They almost always comply before police are called.
1
We have a gov. who sent the Texas National guard to monitor Army military drills over the false conspiracy of Jade Helms. We have a Lt. Gov., a former right wing radio host who legally changed his name due to several past bankrupcies and a sitting Attorney General under indictment for misleading investors. This along with voter ID laws, GOP gerrymandered districts and a deep lingering resentment of Obama have created the environment for these ignorant works of legislation to become law.
11
All you state is without question. And that deep lingering resentment is really fear - I mean how dare Obama question the long standing lie we've been telling that black folks are less than. And for all the 'world' to see? Will all these black folks start getting "uppity" now? Stop that right now!
Scared, hateful, and distastefully average. It's my experience only the very average (not talking about money here) white male has the need to bother with who has what, who's better than me, keeping minorities in their place and the rest of the nonsense. They cash in on their unearned white privilege every day and greatly fear having it taken away. But those that truly are exceptional, with true grit and that something that distinguishes them? They don't need to be scared of "others". They 'know' they're great in their own rights. Check on that.
Scared, hateful, and distastefully average. It's my experience only the very average (not talking about money here) white male has the need to bother with who has what, who's better than me, keeping minorities in their place and the rest of the nonsense. They cash in on their unearned white privilege every day and greatly fear having it taken away. But those that truly are exceptional, with true grit and that something that distinguishes them? They don't need to be scared of "others". They 'know' they're great in their own rights. Check on that.
My father was in the Texas legislature n the 1950's. He always said that the vote he regretted the most, in retrospect, was voting to air condition the State Capitol. If it weren't air conditioned, they would be there in the middle of July making this kind of mischief!
3
This bull and others like it, are rooted in unfounded paranoia. It was more than ten years ago that I had a stint in Ohio. A state legislator introduced a bill banning cell phone cameras in restrooms. His premise was that allowing the phones would allow for the taking of photographs of those with untoward proclivities. You don't need to think about it for long. Toilets are in stalls. Most urinals anymore have barriers between them. Please. Even in the absence of barriers between urinals, there are conventions amongst us men that you tend to the matter at hand while evaluating the quality of the groutwork whilst tending to the business at hand. Violations of this convention are met with any number and measure of aggressive glances or very aggressive, if ever-so-subtle, body language. Rarely does a word ever need be spoken. And that's for inappropriate wandering of the eyes. A camera?!?!?!? Laws are not needed. Years back, working on the campus where I'd attended college, I rushed into what had always been a men's room in my days as a student. Evidence mounted during that visit, that this had been converted to a ladies' room. Embarrasing, but whaddayaknow? The young ladies I encountered when I had hoped for a discreet escape laughed along with me. Restrooms are for the accommodation of basic bodily functions, not carnal compunctions. It should make no difference whether one might stand while tending to those functions, or need to sit. Is there really any difference?
5
Many commentators assert that the Texas bathroom laws will be unenforceable or that police will have to be stationed outside bathrooms to check driver’s licenses and birth certificates. But America has been segregating public, multi-occupancy restrooms by sex since it grew urbanized enough to provide public restrooms. You see signs that read “MEN” or “WOMEN” on bathroom doors across the nation, not just in Texas. Enforcement has never been much of a problem. (Title IX specifically states that school can provide separate bathroom, locker rooms and shower rooms for males and females.) When someone complains that a man is in the women’s room or that a women is in the men’s room, management asks them to leave. They almost always comply. If they refuse to comply, management calls police, but there are seldom any arrests. Police usually just escort the individuals off the premises.
2
You sure don't get out much do you? Even the malls have single serve unisex bathrooms.
1
Long Island native living in Houston for thirty years. This bill is not about 'conservatives' versus 'liberals' so much as it's about intelligent Texans of the 21st century against imbecilic Texans from the stone age.
Even more than that, it's about a single politician, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, a former TV sportscaster, who is trying to take the Texas GOP to the right of the Tea Party. This guy met with the legislators before this year's session and told them that his top priority was passing a 'bathroom bill' and that any legislator that wasn't with him on that bill would not have his support on anything else.
So here we sit in July, held hostage by one politician trying to make a name for himself.
Even more than that, it's about a single politician, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, a former TV sportscaster, who is trying to take the Texas GOP to the right of the Tea Party. This guy met with the legislators before this year's session and told them that his top priority was passing a 'bathroom bill' and that any legislator that wasn't with him on that bill would not have his support on anything else.
So here we sit in July, held hostage by one politician trying to make a name for himself.
12
Dan Patrick went from sportscasting to right wing talk radio hate, and he'll end up as Governor. The man is a sick joke.
1
One of the happiest moments I remember is when I happened to be in the ladies' room at the same time as my transgender friend. It really was a subtle moment of bonding: washing our hands side by side, fixing our hair in the mirror. Simple rituals in a gendered space.. that allowed me to appreciate our identity as women fully. Afterwards, our friendship became more natural, stronger, richer. It's terribly important that we accept and welcome transgender persons fully and without reservation into the gendered sanctuaries of our daily life..
7
These are the types of issues politicians jump on when doing the job they were hired for requires too much effort. Throw some red meat to the base, make it a question about "culture" or "values," and clog up the system so they can avoid any real work. What petty nonsense.
2
At its core, this is simply a power play by increasingly marginalized social conservatives to show who is the "boss." A "bathroom" bill is simply a high-profile means to flex political muscles. No one really cares one wit about the underlying issues (unfortunately). Given Texas' size and economic heft these social conservatives know that real economic consequences will be minimal.
3
It's not about hate.
It's about fear.
Conservatives fear anything different.
It's about fear.
Conservatives fear anything different.
2
Wow! I hope they had enough rest room facilities available for the crowd!
Texas is the largest state in the continental U.S. I'm sure if every now and then people want to assert their human right just for the heck of it, they can go to their favorite outside solitary spot, do their business, woohoo when done, and go on with their lives. Texas could all it the don't-ask-don't-smell policy.
But for everyday in-building use, bio is the way it's always been, and will be. Even translating Title IX a thousand times back and forth to Swahili, French and English won't help. The Supreme Court has already signaled it will shred to bits any argument using Title IX as basis.
As for conventions, there's over 10,000 of them annual nationwide. Phooey to that. Phooey also to has-been Texas Instruments, soon-to-be-has-been IBM, and obstinate has-been AT&T, m&a'ing like an addict just to keep hanging around. You guys have enough on your plate with regular work: lagging stock, infuriating customer service, coverage, billing etc. etc. Don't sweat the big stuff.
But for everyday in-building use, bio is the way it's always been, and will be. Even translating Title IX a thousand times back and forth to Swahili, French and English won't help. The Supreme Court has already signaled it will shred to bits any argument using Title IX as basis.
As for conventions, there's over 10,000 of them annual nationwide. Phooey to that. Phooey also to has-been Texas Instruments, soon-to-be-has-been IBM, and obstinate has-been AT&T, m&a'ing like an addict just to keep hanging around. You guys have enough on your plate with regular work: lagging stock, infuriating customer service, coverage, billing etc. etc. Don't sweat the big stuff.
2
TMK
Oh my, sir, you are a rough and a ready pioneer fellow. Pee in the parking lot, indeed.
And the level of sophistication which allows you so easily to mock IBM, AT&T, Texas Instruments, the founders of this modern culture you appear to adore, well, I must say it is thrilling to behold.
The ease with which you have accepted a perverted piece of legislation offered by an inconstant and perverted man speaks to a ruggedly independent soul having no truck with the prissy conventions of citified life.
One has pause, though, when one realizes all this adds up to a benighted soul which imagines it has never, not even in NYC, been on bathroom-intimate terms with a transgendered person. Such a soul would need to willfully blind, or foolish. Neither one an attractive attribute.
So to you, sir, I say "Shame! Shame for being small minded and afraid and so without gumption you will not be educated."
And I say, "I look forward to the day you burly men realize the only way you can enforce this bill is to raise a woman's skirts and have a gander yourselves". I assume this will mark the beginning of many interesting friendships in Texas, and in NYC, and a return to lawful behavior everywhere.
Oh my, sir, you are a rough and a ready pioneer fellow. Pee in the parking lot, indeed.
And the level of sophistication which allows you so easily to mock IBM, AT&T, Texas Instruments, the founders of this modern culture you appear to adore, well, I must say it is thrilling to behold.
The ease with which you have accepted a perverted piece of legislation offered by an inconstant and perverted man speaks to a ruggedly independent soul having no truck with the prissy conventions of citified life.
One has pause, though, when one realizes all this adds up to a benighted soul which imagines it has never, not even in NYC, been on bathroom-intimate terms with a transgendered person. Such a soul would need to willfully blind, or foolish. Neither one an attractive attribute.
So to you, sir, I say "Shame! Shame for being small minded and afraid and so without gumption you will not be educated."
And I say, "I look forward to the day you burly men realize the only way you can enforce this bill is to raise a woman's skirts and have a gander yourselves". I assume this will mark the beginning of many interesting friendships in Texas, and in NYC, and a return to lawful behavior everywhere.
2
This has literally nothing to do with transgender bathroom access. Going to the bathroom and encountering a transgender person is so incredibly rare, particularly in a small town.
This is about pushing an agenda. Conservatives don't even realize the irony.
This is about pushing an agenda. Conservatives don't even realize the irony.
1
The level of ignorance around this bills and others of its variety is staggering. Girls and women are not in danger in the bathroom! If anything, transgender people are gentler and kinder due to their life situations.
3
This stale debate is so tiresome, and I hope if enacted, it costs Texas proportionally as much as it cost NC (3.76 Billion thus far).
How do you explain that bathrooms have an open, swinging door, and there's nothing to stop sexual predators, murderers, thieves, or cross-dressing cattlemen from entering now or ever?
How do you explain that bathrooms have an open, swinging door, and there's nothing to stop sexual predators, murderers, thieves, or cross-dressing cattlemen from entering now or ever?
1
Texas is hot and stupid. It's a waste of time.
12
With all due respect for the transgendered community, we're forced to acknowledge how minuscule this population is demographically. These bills seem therefore to create a solution for a statistically non-significant problem. So something else lies behind bills of this sort. They're a symbol of hatred toward the gay and lesbian community in general. And if Texas can discriminate against these, then they can single out others; discrimination against one is discrimination against all.
In an earlier version of this bill, cities were forbidden to pass their own anti-discrimination ordinances. That's the kicker (as it was and still is in NC). This is the last stand of the white, male-dominated minority against everybody else's freedom in society, including but not limited to women's rights, ethnic minority rights, lesbian and gay rights, and certain religious rights.
In an earlier version of this bill, cities were forbidden to pass their own anti-discrimination ordinances. That's the kicker (as it was and still is in NC). This is the last stand of the white, male-dominated minority against everybody else's freedom in society, including but not limited to women's rights, ethnic minority rights, lesbian and gay rights, and certain religious rights.
24
If this law had been in effect five years ago, how many crimes against women could have been prevented i.e. what are the relevant statistics?
1
The primary impetus behind the bathroom bill is sexual modesty, not fear of sexual assault, but there are not reliable statistics on transgender crime because police book transgender individuals by their actual sex, not by their gender identity. A transgender woman arrested for assaulting or raping a woman would show up in the statistics only as a male. However, police do put transgender women in separate holding tanks from other males. As anyone who has watched police wrestle transgender women into the holding tanks knows, transgender women commit the same sort of crimes as non-transgender males.
sexual modesty? What are women doing in these bathrooms? Are they uncomfortable sharing these facilities with lesbians?
2
Honestly, doesn't have the state of Texas have enough to manage without spending millions in tax dollars legislating an issue that is ultimately a non-issue. The right wing talks about a "nanny state"...well, if there was ever a nanny issue, this is it.
17
The bathroom bill is one of 20 bills that are being considered during the special session. The most urgent is the so-called Sunset Bill which allow several state agencies,. including the State Medical Board, to continue functioning. I've been to Maine. It also segregate public bathrooms by sex. You see "MEN" or "WOMEN" signs on the bathroom doors.
1
Reading most comments, almost all are "worried" about access to bathrooms and many readers have great ideas on how to solve to keep everyone safe and comfortable. I am more concerned about locker rooms and showers in schools.
As a father with two daughters, and remembering what it was like to be a teen age boy, consider this: how would you feel if your 13 year old daughter came home and told you about the 16 year old boy prancing around the "girls" locker room naked and fully aroused? But he was allowed because he feels he is a girl. Who polices this and how do you enforce any laws related to it?
With so much else to worry about to keep our children safe do we need to add this to the list? I'm biased towards my children and would vote that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few until funding for gender neutral locker rooms and showers in all schools is approved and they are built.
As a father with two daughters, and remembering what it was like to be a teen age boy, consider this: how would you feel if your 13 year old daughter came home and told you about the 16 year old boy prancing around the "girls" locker room naked and fully aroused? But he was allowed because he feels he is a girl. Who polices this and how do you enforce any laws related to it?
With so much else to worry about to keep our children safe do we need to add this to the list? I'm biased towards my children and would vote that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few until funding for gender neutral locker rooms and showers in all schools is approved and they are built.
2
The needs of the many do outweigh the needs of the few if the bathroom bill is defeated. There is no evidence that a "bathroom" (or for that matter a locker room)transgender problem exists (and until there is evidence, this problem is akin to the boogey man under a young child's bed). There is evidence that some very reactionary, politically connected people feel that there is a problem; "their" women are being exposed to sexual advances in restrooms by men pretending to be transgender. There are already laws covering sexual assault, passing a transgender bathroom law will not change the assault rate for these "endangered" women.
Preventing transgender individuals from using public restrooms will not save any women but will expose the transgender person to inconvenience, harassment, and physical danger of assault. A transgender female has to use the men's restroom? A transgender male has to use the woman's restroom? What do you think the outcomes are in those cases?
The Republicans supporting this bill in Texas are making a monumental mistake. North Carolina has suffered economically due to such a bathroom bill. The Republicans are voting to damage Texas, taking billions of dollars per year out of the state economy. The Republicans are voting to increase the number of assaults in Texas by forcing transgender people into using bathrooms of the opposite sex. The Republicans in Texas are seeking to prove there is only one type of American.
Preventing transgender individuals from using public restrooms will not save any women but will expose the transgender person to inconvenience, harassment, and physical danger of assault. A transgender female has to use the men's restroom? A transgender male has to use the woman's restroom? What do you think the outcomes are in those cases?
The Republicans supporting this bill in Texas are making a monumental mistake. North Carolina has suffered economically due to such a bathroom bill. The Republicans are voting to damage Texas, taking billions of dollars per year out of the state economy. The Republicans are voting to increase the number of assaults in Texas by forcing transgender people into using bathrooms of the opposite sex. The Republicans in Texas are seeking to prove there is only one type of American.
3
As a mother of a little boy - I am more worried about him going in unattended into a men's room - after all - in women's rooms you generally have some decorum - we don't whip it out - we're civilized and sit in stalls, which make the privacy issue a moot point. Don't you men have stalls? Why not use them? As far a arousal - I'm guessing men get something out of publicly displaying their "wares"?
And I agree with you - who is going to police this and enforce any laws related to it? Whose going to tell a 13 year old to drop and spread 'em before going into the bathroom. And does that mean we all need to carry around birth certificates just in case? Perhaps folk who worry more about what's between the legs than between the ears will volunteer to sit outside every bathroom in the state of Texass.
You do bring up a good point about locker rooms and showers - and in that regard - especially in schools - I'm guessing that transgender kids are like any other and are equally uncomfortable in being naked in a group setting. I would venture to say that all kids would welcome a bit of privacy in school locker rooms showers.
And I agree with you - who is going to police this and enforce any laws related to it? Whose going to tell a 13 year old to drop and spread 'em before going into the bathroom. And does that mean we all need to carry around birth certificates just in case? Perhaps folk who worry more about what's between the legs than between the ears will volunteer to sit outside every bathroom in the state of Texass.
You do bring up a good point about locker rooms and showers - and in that regard - especially in schools - I'm guessing that transgender kids are like any other and are equally uncomfortable in being naked in a group setting. I would venture to say that all kids would welcome a bit of privacy in school locker rooms showers.
2
Do heterosexual non-trans boys prance around naked and aroused in girls' locker rooms now? A bio-born-boy who is trans and/or transitioning believes s/he was meant to be a girl. So that person would not be aroused by girls in the room, unless that person was also gay. Newsflash: There are already lesbian kids in girls' locker rooms. Have no fear. Your daughter will be fine in deflecting any advances from a trans girl who is also lesbian. Jeez. You can worry yourself sick over non-issues.
Put yourself in the mind of a parent whose kid IS trans. Would you want your child to be safe in bathrooms or locker rooms? Of course you would--your comment shows you're a caring parent! Without the laws, trans people are already choosing the bathroom they need and think they might be safe in. The laws are unnecessary, and bathrooms and locker rooms can easily be retrofitted to accommodate everyone in a humane way. The money spent on special sessions of the Texas legislature would go far in beginning that process.
Put yourself in the mind of a parent whose kid IS trans. Would you want your child to be safe in bathrooms or locker rooms? Of course you would--your comment shows you're a caring parent! Without the laws, trans people are already choosing the bathroom they need and think they might be safe in. The laws are unnecessary, and bathrooms and locker rooms can easily be retrofitted to accommodate everyone in a humane way. The money spent on special sessions of the Texas legislature would go far in beginning that process.
Republicans control the federal government and the majority of governorships and state houses. They have shown us that they are totally incompetent and incapable of governing, however, when it comes to legislating bathroom choices they are second to none.
16
Would someone please explain the enforcement mechanism? who carries their birth certificate? Who is checking at the doors? How do you know the person is using the correct restroom? No one who looks like a man is going into the ladies room. Why do these people have to have someone to bully and discriminate against?
As a North Carolinian, I can assure you, the law has nothing to do with bathrooms and everything to do with dog whistles to help people on the right feel "oppressed" and generate voter turnout.
16
As purported defenders of "freedom," why do Republicans delight so much in quashing the rights of others.
15
Given the issues of hunger, opiode addiction, an education system that is marginal, climate change that threatens the planet, income inequality, etc. political energy and focus is on BATHROOMS?
9
Texas isn't focusing on bathrooms. The bathroom bill is one of 20 bills that will be considered during the special session. The New k times is focusing on bathrooms.
Transgender people are not unequivocally gay. But for the ignorant, they are discriminated against as if they were.
This is a wedge issue, since the Texas legislation is virtually unenforceable, so its principal value for the bigot-homophobic-caucus among Republicans will be to open the floodgate for further discriminatory laws against the broad spectrum of sexual minorities.
The Texas (and North Carolina) law must be strenuously opposed, and soon. If Anthony Kennedy resigns from the SCOTUS it will be open season on all non-heterosexual Americans.
This is a wedge issue, since the Texas legislation is virtually unenforceable, so its principal value for the bigot-homophobic-caucus among Republicans will be to open the floodgate for further discriminatory laws against the broad spectrum of sexual minorities.
The Texas (and North Carolina) law must be strenuously opposed, and soon. If Anthony Kennedy resigns from the SCOTUS it will be open season on all non-heterosexual Americans.
9
Transgender people can be heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual. Research conducted at the University of Minnesota “suggests that the breakdown of sexualities among transsexual women—men who gender identify as female—is 38% bisexual, 35% attracted to women, and 27% attracted to men.” This means that 73 percent of transgender women are sexually attracted to women and 35 percent are exclusively attracted exclusively to women. This is one reason only a tiny percent of transgender women undergo sexual-reassignment surgery. Their male sex organs are essential to their sex lives. However, the primary impetus behind the Texas bathroom bill is sexual modesty, not fear of sexual assault.
It's amazing how tightly many so called Christians hold on to their hate and judgement. Seems like they missed everything Jesus said about loving one another as he loved us.
18
My favorite Jesus quote, so sad that many "Christians" appear never to have heard of it.
Unreal that in 2017 you are spending millions and will forgo millions more because of your need to discriminate. This is not a safety issue. Do you know transgender people? They are NOT out to get you. They just want to live their lives and use the bathroom like the rest of us. History will shame you. Thank goodness for the businesses and Episcopal Church for taking a stand against discrimination.
55
who will be outside each bathroom verifying birth certificates that will either Grant or deny entry? I don't discriminate I'm just trying to figure out how this is all going to work assuming of course it does
The Texas law is meant to humiliate transgender people, but in reality will cause more discomfort to everyone else to share the rest room with people who clearly appear to be the opposite sex. It also gives men the right to use the ladies' room by purporting to be biological women.
8
Backward doesn't begin to describe Tea Party Republicans in the Texas Senate. So embarrassing for everyday Texans.
It may take a huge step backwards and the accordant consequences to wake up this state's voters.
It may take a huge step backwards and the accordant consequences to wake up this state's voters.
23
Can't we just start adding Gender Neutral Bathrooms to
older buildings and require them in new ones so you have
Male/Female/Neutral Bathrooms to choose from ?
older buildings and require them in new ones so you have
Male/Female/Neutral Bathrooms to choose from ?
8
Starbucks has them and quite frankly they are much dirtier now since men have sloppy bathroom habits.
3
Why? Transgendered don't hurt anyone. It is the straights who hurt the transgendered.
1
Europe and other places have uni-sex bathrooms which contain stalls, each with a panic button in case of emergencies.
These legislators need to spend only on installing panic buttons instead of pushing their own panic button over a non-issue.
These legislators need to spend only on installing panic buttons instead of pushing their own panic button over a non-issue.
12
every one of these protests is another electoral vote, you know, the only votes that count. for Mr Trump
regarding discomfort, here the comfort of the many outweighs the comfort of the few
regarding discomfort, here the comfort of the many outweighs the comfort of the few
2
The founders wanted to protect the minorities from, as they called it, the tyranny of the majority. They would disagree with you. It isn't about discomfort, it is about fairness and equality which is what this country is suppose to be about. Remember the declaration? We hold these truths to be self-evident? Obviously those words mean nothing to you.
1
“It’s not about transgender,” Trayce Bradford, the president of a conservative group called the Texas Eagle Forum, told the Senate committee. “It’s about feeling safe. There has to be some boundaries.”
So I gather transgendered people are not allowed to feel safe in Texas. Because seeing a sweet young thing in a petticoat waltzing through the men's room is not an invitation to any kind of trouble. Because cowboys.
So I gather transgendered people are not allowed to feel safe in Texas. Because seeing a sweet young thing in a petticoat waltzing through the men's room is not an invitation to any kind of trouble. Because cowboys.
19
Texas, like the rest of the Southern United States, is stuck with virulently patriarchal, racist and flag-waving legislatures wether the public at large wants them or not. The Texas Republicans just re-legalised corporal punishment in schools (https://www.rt.com/viral/397100-texas-schools-approve-corporal-punishment/) and has passed load of measures aiming to harm those receiving abortions, feminists, women in general, protestors, people of color, and literally everyone else who isn't an Evangelical white supremacist. They maintain their grip on power due to a heavily selective voter-ID Jim Crow system, which under Trump, will only be expanded to the rest of the country. What a sad state of affairs.
18
"SAD"? HORRIFIC.
After the fiasco in North Carolina I would have thought state legislators would come to their senses. Obviously not. Now it is Texas' turn for contempt, shunning and shame.
After the fiasco in North Carolina I would have thought state legislators would come to their senses. Obviously not. Now it is Texas' turn for contempt, shunning and shame.
1
Lawrence Wright's article in The New Yorker about the "current crop of crackpots and right-wing ideologues" in the Texas legislature is a must read about the disfunction that grips the state's politics that lead up to this idiotic showdown.
16
Many commenters are ignoring the public schools component of this bill. Let's focus on locker rooms for a second: do middle and high school students have the right to change in spaces segregated by biological sex, or no?
3
Middle school students can certainly be very mean to their peers, gay, straight, trans, and everything in between.
If you are picturing the "everybody walk through naked" shower areas after a sweaty gym class or sports competition, these can easily be redesigned. I can assure you that most kids of this OMG-how-do-I-look-age hate them anyhow. There are kids with terrible acne, body scars, or odd-looking birthmarks who can only dream of more privacy. Shower curtains or portable shower partitions are inexpensive ways to shield shy teenagers from prying eyes. I suggest Texas buy some.
If you are picturing the "everybody walk through naked" shower areas after a sweaty gym class or sports competition, these can easily be redesigned. I can assure you that most kids of this OMG-how-do-I-look-age hate them anyhow. There are kids with terrible acne, body scars, or odd-looking birthmarks who can only dream of more privacy. Shower curtains or portable shower partitions are inexpensive ways to shield shy teenagers from prying eyes. I suggest Texas buy some.
I think that the question should be about practical gender rather than documented gender.
So we should let business, the NBA and the NCAA determine the laws we live with...let the wealthy and well off have their way, just like healthcare?
Well there are two ways to answer that. Those entities are for more fairness and equality than you obviously are for.
Or they understand that the old days of discrimination earn them less money and thus desire equality for profit.
Either way, they are on the side of equality for all.
And the rest of us will accept their help for equality no matter which is their reason. Because in the end, it gets what this country's ideals are, freedom and equality for all. After all slave owners fought for that ideal in the revolution though it took almost a hundred years for slavery to be ended. All those rich people fighting for the rights of the rest of us.
Or they understand that the old days of discrimination earn them less money and thus desire equality for profit.
Either way, they are on the side of equality for all.
And the rest of us will accept their help for equality no matter which is their reason. Because in the end, it gets what this country's ideals are, freedom and equality for all. After all slave owners fought for that ideal in the revolution though it took almost a hundred years for slavery to be ended. All those rich people fighting for the rights of the rest of us.
1
Heck no by all means-pass the law. Any business, organization or person, rich or not, has the right to conduct or not conduct business with a state that chooses to discriminate. They won't determine the law, you as a citizen, will make that call. They will simply react to it.
If a man wishes to become/identify with being a woman, why would a heterosexual man wish her to share a bathroom?
Meanwhile, heterosexual and gay men routinely share bathrooms with no issues.
So, why the law?
Meanwhile, heterosexual and gay men routinely share bathrooms with no issues.
So, why the law?
5
It's the year 2017 and one of the most intriguing issues in America preoccupying the public is "Who will use What Bathroom".
Only in America!
Only in America!
12
Are we going to have the police standing outside of bathrooms checking birth certificates? This is a massive joke, non-issue that Republicans are using to rile up the base.
Worried about women in the restroom? Sexual assault in a bathroom is a crime, no matter if it's by a trans-woman or a man. My point being - men could commit the crime right now, that this bill is supposed to fix.
Worried about women in the restroom? Sexual assault in a bathroom is a crime, no matter if it's by a trans-woman or a man. My point being - men could commit the crime right now, that this bill is supposed to fix.
14
I am in Europe right now and there are plenty of public coed bathrooms. There is no confusion, no embarrassing moments and no one attacking me at the hand dryer. Grow up, America!
37
I think it's unfortunate, but we must push through legislation that discriminates against a group of people who choose to be what they are, which is different from us. Bathrooms are the most important place to do this really, a public place where we are at our most vulnerable, and thus we really have to pass a bill, nationwide, that makes Christians use their own separate bathrooms.
Some will say that this harks back to the recent division of bathrooms by White and Colored designation, but consider this. The vast majority of rape, murder, and violent crime in the U.S. is committed by Christians. Christians, notably, have the highest numbers of convictions for sexual violence, domestic abuse, and stalking.
Even worse, to the best of my knowledge, almost all of the hate crimes against people who were gay, transgender, Jewish, Muslim, and other groups besides, were committed in the U.S. by Christians. It is said that some segment of Christians believe that being gay, Jewish, and so on, is a sin and it must be punished. Apparently by them, in public bathrooms.
So for peoples' safety, I insist that we need Christian-only bathrooms now. We can produce them readily enough by utilizing outhouses, so as not to offend their deity with advanced technology.
Some will say that this harks back to the recent division of bathrooms by White and Colored designation, but consider this. The vast majority of rape, murder, and violent crime in the U.S. is committed by Christians. Christians, notably, have the highest numbers of convictions for sexual violence, domestic abuse, and stalking.
Even worse, to the best of my knowledge, almost all of the hate crimes against people who were gay, transgender, Jewish, Muslim, and other groups besides, were committed in the U.S. by Christians. It is said that some segment of Christians believe that being gay, Jewish, and so on, is a sin and it must be punished. Apparently by them, in public bathrooms.
So for peoples' safety, I insist that we need Christian-only bathrooms now. We can produce them readily enough by utilizing outhouses, so as not to offend their deity with advanced technology.
29
1st we must make them wear crosses to identify them. Then we know who they are. Then we can segregate them like they would do to the rest of us.
Now of course the real problem is that only a minority of hardcore christians want to be able to discriminate against everyone else. Who hate everyone else. We can start with going with republican, than go to conservatives to narrow the field of haters.
We could go with white conservative christians have their own bathrooms and the rest of us use public bathrooms. Then they can have their own drinking fountains, seating, and etc to make them feel like the rest of us can't contaminate them at all. They can be their own little group and they don't have to deal with the rest of us. And we don't have to put up with them.
Now of course the real problem is that only a minority of hardcore christians want to be able to discriminate against everyone else. Who hate everyone else. We can start with going with republican, than go to conservatives to narrow the field of haters.
We could go with white conservative christians have their own bathrooms and the rest of us use public bathrooms. Then they can have their own drinking fountains, seating, and etc to make them feel like the rest of us can't contaminate them at all. They can be their own little group and they don't have to deal with the rest of us. And we don't have to put up with them.
1
Right on Dan. We should expand this to include the right to refuse service to any christian if it offends my secular sensibilities.
2
Agree with your comments mostly, but disagree with the idea that transgender people "choose" to be different. Every time the question comes up I remember a friend of many years ago, a pediatric surgeon, whose specialty was gender assignment surgeries and he performed plenty of them. In many instances, he said, "we just have to guess" and they didn't always guess right. The "Christians" who oppose any acceptance of transgender legitimacy cannot accept the reality that occasionally a child is born with pretty messed up plumbing, any more than they can accept the reality that autism begins before birth and is not caused by vaccines. "God doesn't make mistakes", they say. Well, perhaps God doesn't make mistakes; perhaps it's the total inability of these "Christians" to understand the complexity of God's creation.
BTW, I second the suggestion of many commenters that we need unisex bathrooms.
BTW, I second the suggestion of many commenters that we need unisex bathrooms.
1
I am dumbfounded by the fury this provokes. What is the big deal about unisex bathrooms? I've been to my fair share of those in Italy and lived to tell the tale.
Y'all are crazy. This is a tempest in a toilet bowl.
Grow up guys.
Y'all are crazy. This is a tempest in a toilet bowl.
Grow up guys.
14
I grew up a proud Texan but this makes me ashamed to be a Texan. I seem to be repeating that phrase more and more. It seems every year our leadership becomes more radical and more intolerant.
10
The Texas bill makes no reference to transgender individuals or gender identity. It requires public buildings and public schools and open-enrollment charter schools to provide separate multi-occupancy restrooms and changing rooms for males and females. (Title IX implementing regulations specifically state that schools are permitted to provide separate restroom, locker rooms and shower rooms for male and female students.) Texas has been segregating these types of facilities for many generations. Texas has signs that read MEN or WOMEN on the doorway and entryways to multi-occupancy restrooms, but so do other states.
2
Yes and transgendered have been using the facilities that match what sex they are w/o any problem before this bill was invented to cause a problem. Now texas wishes to make being transgendered a problem
Taxes is facing many conflicts such from gay rights groups, social conservatives, corporations, and the states Republican leaderships. Now, the issue includes restricting bathroom from transgender people in government buildings and schools. It even goes to the level of asking citizens to use the bathrooms in the public buildings with the same sex as stated on the person's birth certificate. For me, I think it is a big issue as I don't want any discrimination going on and I want people to be what they want to be and what they would like to do.
As a Texan, married in Texas to a Texan I can't express how sad it is to be a Texan today... A state that has prided itself on individual spirit, tenacity, a state built on the sheer will power of her people, all of her people, is sinking into a nonsensical debate about bathrooms. The GOP used to pride itself on a core principle of staying out of the lives of the individual, well that certainly has flown out the window; now we are in the bedroom and the bathroom stall. Meanwhile, the State needs a lot of real governance not the waste of a million dollars this "special session" is costing. That all said, when only 33% of the electorate bothers to turn out and vote, then we can't be too surprised that the truly committed voter - not matter how wing-nut they may be - wins the State House and the Governor's Mansion. I wonder if the Mansion has separate facilities for its occupants based on gender identification?
4
Wasting time on a non-issue to placate social conservatives shows just how far Texas and the country have fallen. Truly important issues are ignored: living standards, education, infrastructure, health and safety, all because some social conservative people have an irrational fear.
Shame on them, shame on Patrick, and shame on all who deign to give this issue any time, much less a special session.
Shame on them, shame on Patrick, and shame on all who deign to give this issue any time, much less a special session.
4
The TX State Legislature is no stranger to punitive politics.
While I would hope that compassion, common sense and a firm disavowal of discrimination would drive the debate, it probably won’t.
The serious economic implications/fallout to the state probably will.
Whatever it takes.
Whatever it takes.
While I would hope that compassion, common sense and a firm disavowal of discrimination would drive the debate, it probably won’t.
The serious economic implications/fallout to the state probably will.
Whatever it takes.
Whatever it takes.
27
As a woman, I can tell you that I would much rather share a restroom with Laverne Cox than my uterus with a Republican Congressman.
174
If you're interested in a deeper look at Texas politics and this issue, read Lawrence Wright's article the the July 10-12 issue of the New Yorker.
24
So the President seems to have colluded with a foreign dictator to help win an election, and Americans are most worried about who uses which bathroom? No wonder America is a mess. If we're going to waste time legislating bathroom etiquette, we could at least focus on something that really matters . . . like putting the seat down after one's done.
81
We're Americans, Purple, we can do both.
And because we're Americans, most of us would prefer for people to use the bathrooms which match their idea of who they are.
If this is so inconsequential an issue, why all the hoopla? It seems to me that you are the one making a big deal out of nothing much.
And because we're Americans, most of us would prefer for people to use the bathrooms which match their idea of who they are.
If this is so inconsequential an issue, why all the hoopla? It seems to me that you are the one making a big deal out of nothing much.
Purple State,
I have never really got on with that piece of etiquette.
With our genders now being equal, shouldn't it be up to each to raise or lower as needed?! It could even be looked at as being more hygienic and safer for those that need to use the seat down to lift it up and away after use from those that don't need said seat in said position.
My complaint is those that litter and somehow mess upon the floor. I mean really?!!!
I have never really got on with that piece of etiquette.
With our genders now being equal, shouldn't it be up to each to raise or lower as needed?! It could even be looked at as being more hygienic and safer for those that need to use the seat down to lift it up and away after use from those that don't need said seat in said position.
My complaint is those that litter and somehow mess upon the floor. I mean really?!!!
1
For goodness sakes! They cannot point to one instance where a transgendered person has caused problems in a bathroom. It is a law that is only based upon whipped up fears of people who are different made by self-righteous people who are as far from Christian as can be.
There are plenty of laws on the books about bathroom behavior already and they work. Are they incapable of learning from NC?
There are plenty of laws on the books about bathroom behavior already and they work. Are they incapable of learning from NC?
72
????? I don't get the fuss either. What the heck is their problem.
Pragmatism based on selfish Capitalistic accumulation signifying a pyrrhic victory lacking majority dogmatic acceptance.
3
I would cancel my business in Texas should this pass and, whenever possible, I would boycott Texas based companies. This would be bad for Dell and good for HP and Lenovo (and we buy hundreds of computers a year).
43
The Texas Senate. It reminds me of a story told about former Governor Ann Richards. She was asked to comment when the ACLU announced it was going to sue the State for permitting a crèche on display in the Texas legislature's rotunda in Austin, violating the separation of church and state.
She hemmed a bit, then said "well, look at it this way. It's probably the closest three wise men have ever gotten to the Texas legislature. Why not just let it stay there a few more days, maybe some of it might rub off?"
She hemmed a bit, then said "well, look at it this way. It's probably the closest three wise men have ever gotten to the Texas legislature. Why not just let it stay there a few more days, maybe some of it might rub off?"
86
Three wiser men were around during the 30s and 40s, but they made comedic shorts. But still far wiser.
1
Mr. Patrick's argument that predators masquerading as trans women would sneak into bathrooms is bogus on its face. That could happen anyway. The real issue is hatred, bias, or religion based outrage. Why don't people like Patrick just admit that? Are they cowards?
53
Republicans finding a solution to a problem that never existed like they always do. Just like voter fraud.
78
This law makes no sense. It has the exact opposite effect from what is (purportedly) intended.
In the sad event it passes - any butch appearing man can walk into a women's rest room and just say "I was born a woman" - and there is nothing anyone can do about it. It is a gift to bathroom-stalking pedophiles.
So backwards!
In the sad event it passes - any butch appearing man can walk into a women's rest room and just say "I was born a woman" - and there is nothing anyone can do about it. It is a gift to bathroom-stalking pedophiles.
So backwards!
12
Has this happened? Please give us evidence supported data.
Typical, the only thing these "lawmakers" are worried about is who is in the next stall and what they're packing.
16
The real people at risk here are members of the trans community who would be forced to use facilities that are discordant with their gender. Aside from the shame, indignity, and pain of being forced to use a bathroom with members of a gender with whom you do not identify, trans individuals are at real risk for violence if forced to use restrooms with individuals of the opposite gender. THis bill is not about protecting people; it's about protecting the lawmakers' belief system.
49
Think about it. Transgender women actually have to stand and wait in those long lines for the Women's restrooms. This really is about their identity and who they are.
8
I am a woman and have used public bathrooms all my life. Not once have I ever been met by a guard at the door to protect me from potential predators, transgender or otherwise. I find it difficult to believe these people are suddenly so concerned with the safety of women.
52
The conservative position on this is completely incoherent. If they get their way, then someone who is a transgender male will be required to use the women's bathroom. This means that someone who self identifies as male, passes in society as male, and LOOKS male will be required to use the women's bathroom. Is this really what they want?? They want someone who everyone they encounter would consider to be male to use the women's bathroom? And they think that will make women more comfortable?? It makes no sense!
28
Jon,
They don't want trans people to use the bathroom at all in public places, and they hope they will not even go to public places where they might have to use the bathroom. Think about how dangerous it will be to a trans woman to use a men's bathroom. It's a message to trans people that they are not welcome in Texas.
They don't want trans people to use the bathroom at all in public places, and they hope they will not even go to public places where they might have to use the bathroom. Think about how dangerous it will be to a trans woman to use a men's bathroom. It's a message to trans people that they are not welcome in Texas.
8
I have been a registered Republican for 40 years. IMHO the Republican Party has lost it's moral compass. Republicans used to stand for individual rights. Now they use "religious freedom" and "women's safety" as a facade to pass legislation that places bigotry into the statutes. Then there is that pesky document called the Declaration of Independence that promises that all people are entitled to seek life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Well, maybe not according to today's Republicans. What in the name of Abraham Lincoln has happened to my party.
42
Your point is well taken.
Your party abandoned you a long, long time ago.
Your party abandoned you a long, long time ago.
1
I am shocked to learn that transgender folks are now -- apparently -- starting to use bathrooms for the first time in recorded history. The people all agitated about this issue ought to visit France, where bathroom gender distinctions are often vague. You can stand at the common sinks in many bathrooms and turn one way and look at the backs of men using the nearby urinals, or you can turn the other way and see women going in and out of closed stalls. What's the problem?
43
The idea that someone must use the bathroom that corresponds to birth gender could facilitate sexual molestation and assault in the women's room! Since no one is going to check birth certificates at the bathroom door a man could easily walk in as though he were a transgender. Unless we are required to carry a birth certificate everywhere we go who on earth is going to know who should use which bathroom? The law is unenforceable at best.
23
It's all about intimidating transgender people. What they are hoping for is that trans people will not frequent public places where they must, at some point, use a restroom. They hope to embarass them or intimidate them. In other words, trans people are not welcome in Texas.
Before the right wing of the Republican Party decided they could use this issue to further divide Americans, transgendered people were sing bathrooms of their choice with no problem. This is a solution in search of a problem.
20
So true. Just another power flexing move chasing imaginary problems with an unenforceable law. So people have to show their birth certificates or licences before they can use the bathroom.
I wonder how these legislators would feel is the bathrooms were arranged in order of the size of their genitalia.
We know the tiny bathrooms these small minded men and their unenforceable joke of a law will end up. Unenforceable law, small minds, small hands... you know the rest.
What a waste of legislative energy and focus. Russia continues stealthily to hack and maximize their rigging of our votes, and these small minded legislators are focused on genitalia.
How draining!
I wonder how these legislators would feel is the bathrooms were arranged in order of the size of their genitalia.
We know the tiny bathrooms these small minded men and their unenforceable joke of a law will end up. Unenforceable law, small minds, small hands... you know the rest.
What a waste of legislative energy and focus. Russia continues stealthily to hack and maximize their rigging of our votes, and these small minded legislators are focused on genitalia.
How draining!
When the country''s institutions and infrastructure are falling apart, what an utter waste of time.
27
When the country's institutions and infrastructure are falling apart, what an utter waste of time.
6
Unisex bathrooms are commonplace across Australia. How did common sense become such a scarce resource in America?
24
A terrible bill that's had terrible consequences for everyone, everywhere it's passed. Bad law, bad policy, bad outcomes.
12
When news of the proposed Texas bathroom bill came out, I was afraid that it would simply sail through the legislature. Surely after seeing the vociferous, vigorous and prolonged resistance to the same effort in my adopted state of NC, the only way the deeply conservative Texas legislators would attempt something like this would be because they knew something that the ret of us didn't. Perhaps they knew they had a more certain lock on public and corporate/employer opinion than the NC legislature ever had. Remember that in the Year of Trump and the triumph of district gerrymandering, our governor got replaced by a Democrat over this issue, for heaven's sakes. And Dan Patrick is a more accomplished right wing bulldog than our own Dan Forrest is. But now we find that--and once again, God Bless Texas--there are enough strong minded outspoken people, corporations, and religious organizations down there in Lone Star land who recognize this same attempt In Texas for what it is: Hypocrisy wrapped in lies motivated by fear, dedicated to a desperate need to control what people believe. And a pretense--that sexuality and society are composed only of two simple and utterly nonoverlapping sexual identities--that contradicts virtually all biological, social, and historical evidence.
14
No, these people don't CARE what business does or how much money is lost. They are either religious nutcases or their base has religious nutcases at its core. The State Senate in Texas has a "super majority" of them. If they had their way, they would amend the Constitutin in a Convention of States , do away with the First Amendment, and make Christianity the official American religion.
Tons of people who COULD VOTE in Texas, DON'T. On the other hand,those who think they are on a mission from God and Jesus DO vote. Religiously.
Until you live here or have a news bureau here and it is consulted often, as a NYC based publisher or news medium, you won't "get it". These people are having rater and greater outsized influence on the nation and the federal government. Ignore them at your and the nation's peril. And they march in lockstep with Trump.
Tons of people who COULD VOTE in Texas, DON'T. On the other hand,those who think they are on a mission from God and Jesus DO vote. Religiously.
Until you live here or have a news bureau here and it is consulted often, as a NYC based publisher or news medium, you won't "get it". These people are having rater and greater outsized influence on the nation and the federal government. Ignore them at your and the nation's peril. And they march in lockstep with Trump.
I am visiting Quebec as I read this news. This is very simple when you are use to unisex bathrooms. This hesitancy to respond reflect a puritan and antiquated views. This is simple. Let people go Into their separate stalls. And now let us move on to the really important issues of our times.
18
Forcing trans students to use bathrooms that do not match their clothing or appearances will create problems for them and others far beyond letting people do as they choose. Maybe those problems are desired by those who'd like to punish those who are different. There are always some who do want to punish difference. And weirdly, they often think that they're Christians, or defenders of freedom--when they are quite the reverse.
18
I used to live in Belgium in early 1980s. Many cafés and small restaurants had multi-stall and sink bathrooms that were intended for both male and female use. Larger and more formal restaurants always had separate restrooms, as did theaters, public buildings, etc.. But that was probably so that both sexes could fix their appearance and chat separately, i.e. the "powder room". We're kidding ourselves if we think that humans ALWAYS prefer a mixed environment.
If this was even a problem -- which it isn't -- exactly how would it be enforced? Genital checks at the door of every public bathroom?
I'm a woman in Texas and I don't care who is using the bathroom next to me -- just wash your hands. Thanks.
Personally, I think public bathrooms should be unisex and have stalls like they have in Bucce's, the famous rest-stop stores in Texas: their stalls have walls and doors that go down to the floor and a dial that indicates occupied or vacant. No need to peek under for feet to see if it's empty. No urinals out in the open. Done. And it would solve the "potty parity" problem too.
I'm a woman in Texas and I don't care who is using the bathroom next to me -- just wash your hands. Thanks.
Personally, I think public bathrooms should be unisex and have stalls like they have in Bucce's, the famous rest-stop stores in Texas: their stalls have walls and doors that go down to the floor and a dial that indicates occupied or vacant. No need to peek under for feet to see if it's empty. No urinals out in the open. Done. And it would solve the "potty parity" problem too.
132
Agree completely.
As the mother of three boys, I would add, put the seat down.
As the mother of three boys, I would add, put the seat down.
2
Ah yes. Take away from men (urinals) and spend untold billions in remodelling just to satisfy transgender advocates. You realize that you would have to reduce the number of womens stalls, right? Current law in most states provides that womens rooms have more stalls than men because urinals are a very effective way to move men in and out of bathrooms.
But we have to satisfy the transgender lobby, so everyone must suffer longer lines to accommodate them.
But we have to satisfy the transgender lobby, so everyone must suffer longer lines to accommodate them.
As a woman, it bothers me that Republican men keep using the "women's right to privacy" excuse to justify this discriminatory measure. If they really cared about women's rights and health -- rather than about their standing with their party -- they wouldn't continue to attempt to block Planned Parenthood and related services in the state. An offensive way to justify an offensive measure.
308
I always thought it was ironically funny that that excuse for a "woman's right to privacy" was always used as the number one reason for such bills. It's almost an oxymoron really; the lack of privacy perceived by Republican lawmakers about transgender women creates a lack of privacy for all women of any age!
5
I also find it weird that everyone seems to talk about women's privacy here when it is clearly men who have much less privacy in bathrooms than women. Why are women's privacy rights apparently more important than men's?
6
You COULD NOT be more misguided in your comment. There are OVER 5,000 clinics in Texas that do EVERYTHING that Planned Parenthood does EXCEPT provide abortions. So if a state decides that it's funds are not to be used to fund clinics that provide abortions, and Planned Parenthood wants those funds, all it has to do is cease doing abortions. They have repeatedly claimed that they do not use state or federal funds to provide abortions , so it should be no big deal for them to show financial documents to prove their claims, yet they never seem to produce them to prove their claims. You may not be uncomfortable sharing a bathroom with "transgender" folks who are trans only in their mind, and have not had surgery, but MANY are and they have rights also, so let us not forget about THEIR rights when considering bills like the one you so adimately oppose!!!
Well look at the bright side: By making this a law the state brings national attention to bathroom laws, which will accelerate a supreme court hearing, which will again lead to a victory for Trans folk and every state will be banned from passing any law about bathrooms.
As it stands, of course, no laws existed regarding bathrooms/sex/gender as the "Mens" and "Womens" rooms have, and always have been, suggestions.
My question to these geniuses: What about toddlers and geriatric individuals? ie: A young boy who needs his mother's help to go to the bathroom or an older gentleman who require's his daughter's assistance using/accessing the restroom? No matter what you're barring the caregiver from accessing the bathroom with this stupid law, making it illegal for a son to accompany his mother into the ladies room or vis-versa when they need assistance.
As it stands, of course, no laws existed regarding bathrooms/sex/gender as the "Mens" and "Womens" rooms have, and always have been, suggestions.
My question to these geniuses: What about toddlers and geriatric individuals? ie: A young boy who needs his mother's help to go to the bathroom or an older gentleman who require's his daughter's assistance using/accessing the restroom? No matter what you're barring the caregiver from accessing the bathroom with this stupid law, making it illegal for a son to accompany his mother into the ladies room or vis-versa when they need assistance.
93
You have too much good faith in the Republican supreme court if you think this would lead to a victory there.
2
Don't forget people of all ages who are disabled and require help by an opposite-sex family member or carer. It's not only about the young and old. Disabled folks make up 20% of the population, a big group.
BTW, I have seen women bring in their young sons to use the women's restroom and hardly anyone blinks an eye. One time, an elderly man needed to use the bathroom and the only handicapped toilet working was the women's one so he went there with his carer instead of the men's. Again, no big issue.
BTW, I have seen women bring in their young sons to use the women's restroom and hardly anyone blinks an eye. One time, an elderly man needed to use the bathroom and the only handicapped toilet working was the women's one so he went there with his carer instead of the men's. Again, no big issue.
Sexual predators don't abuse girls in bathrooms by dressing up as women. That's just not how it works. Common sense, please?
234
how do you know?
1
California extends fossil fuel hydrocarbon Cap-and-Trade laws to 2030 that will help to save the planet from global warming and massive pollution. Texas calls a special session of their legislature to enact a law on where people can legally go wee-wee in the state of Texas..
207
Fortunately, I already have a wallet sized birth certificate so I am clear for both NC and now Texas. What a relief!
Dear Texans - if you are LGBTQ, Liberal, or otherwise are unaccepted in Texas: please come to NYC!
Let the old South be a bastion of closed minded inhospitality. Bring your energy here.
Gerrymandering has made the state a lone single party state of anger and hatred.
The rest of the country will boycott them just like NC was. So all of you in Austin - Brooklyn beckons!
Let the old South be a bastion of closed minded inhospitality. Bring your energy here.
Gerrymandering has made the state a lone single party state of anger and hatred.
The rest of the country will boycott them just like NC was. So all of you in Austin - Brooklyn beckons!
100
If we could afford to move back home (aka NYC), we would. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to afford the astronomical price of living there. So now we live in Austin which is a great city. A blue oasis in a sea of red. I would never live anywhere else in TX.
1
My sentiments exactly. I urge secession.
Plenty of gay Texans like myself prefer to stay in the Lone Star State - not run to high-taxing nanny states like NY. Thanks for the offer but we are doing fine down here,
Thank you Mr. Straus. Will the other moderate Republicans start taking a stand?
48
“I don’t want sexual predators masquerading as being transgender to enter into a bathroom and follow a little girl, or somebody’s wife, or somebody’s daughter, as we have case after case,” Mr. Patrick said.
Do we have any data from anywhere that gives evidence to this supposed scourge of cross dressing (but, clearly male and heterosexual) predators? Why do these discussions remind me of the voter fraud "debate?"
But, perhaps even more instructive is the fact that these pro-discrimination dopes willfully deny any of the economic lessons learned in NC.
Do we have any data from anywhere that gives evidence to this supposed scourge of cross dressing (but, clearly male and heterosexual) predators? Why do these discussions remind me of the voter fraud "debate?"
But, perhaps even more instructive is the fact that these pro-discrimination dopes willfully deny any of the economic lessons learned in NC.
155
Exactly. No data on cross-dressing rapists, but we've had quite a few politicians arrested after being naughty in public restrooms. Maybe we should ban all politicians from using public potties? Given the political idiocy going on in this country, I think that's a bill I could support.
18
I honestly believe there's something wrong with Dan Patrick. He has an obsession with bathrooms that seems creepy and gross. You'd think he'd have more pressing issues to deal with, but this seems to have been at the forefront of his career for quite some time now.
22
Just a quick note that all Texans are not in support of this absolutely atrocious fantasy bill from our Alt-Right Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Since taking office these two men have decided to impose their extreme right-wing agenda upon all Texans. We constantly wonder why issues of school financing , infrastructure and expansion of Medicade which SHOULD take precedence over these foolish hang ups of our state officials are not being addressed. Speaker Strauss is trying to keep the Legislature on a more moderate track to actually consider substantial issues and try to solve them. Abbott and Patrick are painfully ignorant but are being supported by Tea Pary members from Deep East Texas and oil and cattle Barrons who would like the state to revert to the good ol' days of the fifties and sixties. I still don't understand this Repub Philosophy that they can justify invasion by government into one's personal life and still claim that they do not believe in big government. That dog doesn't hunt.
1
If a man decides to dress up like a woman to sneak into a Lady's room to attack women and girls, I don't think a bathroom law is going to stop him. Sounds like some folks need to spend a little more time defending their country against Russian cyber warfare and espionage and a little less time worrying about other people's bathroom habits.
240
Some folks certainly need to spend a little more time defending their country against Russian cyber warfare and espionage and a little less time worrying about other people's bathroom habits.
Of course, that also goes for those who've made "gender identity" an issue in the first place.
Of course, that also goes for those who've made "gender identity" an issue in the first place.
4
It's the conservative Republican Bible thumpers who made it an issue.
It never ceases to amaze me how much time is wasted in debating an issue that was never a problem until social conservatives decided it needed to be one. Surely, there must be bigger issues at hand? Also, I would like to see the hard evidence of these apparently numerous "case after case" offenses. This is causing more problems than it solves.
201
This was never a problem until various jurisdictions started adding "gender identity" to nondiscrimination ordinances. Of course there are bigger issues at hand.
27
And, of course, there still is no problem.
1
It's not social conservatives who started this solution in search of problem. It was socalled "progressives" in Houston who started to press a case just for the fun of it. There never was any real discrimination until they cooked up a non-existing problem and Obama picked it up. That was probably the final straw that brought us Trump.
Well done, 44!
I am sick of this!
Well done, 44!
I am sick of this!
2
All the protests in the world won't change Texas unless people start treating Texas like a "hidden" swing state and make a concerted effort to engage with, register, and turn out the millions of Democratic-leaning (esp. black and Hispanic) voters throughout this state.
Check out the Texas Tribune's article "Here's where Texas voters turned out and where they didn't". In the 2016 election, voter turnout in the blue counties (the major cities and the Rio Grande Valley) was 20-40% - a tiny fraction of the turnout in rural red counties.
I've said it before, I'll say it again: Texas would be a blue state like California if people turned out to vote.
Check out the Texas Tribune's article "Here's where Texas voters turned out and where they didn't". In the 2016 election, voter turnout in the blue counties (the major cities and the Rio Grande Valley) was 20-40% - a tiny fraction of the turnout in rural red counties.
I've said it before, I'll say it again: Texas would be a blue state like California if people turned out to vote.
256
And now, with "immigration fever" in full swing, every Latino/a, or person who looks like a Latino/a is a suspect and subject to harassment, if not arrest. I think we can expect to see even fewer of our ethnic citizens and friends at the polls.
GOP purpose achieved.
GOP purpose achieved.
3
They'd come out to vote if Dems seemed more like FDR than warmed over Clinton mess....
3
Hate and fear are powerful motivators - hence high "conservative" turnout in every election.