If we do nothing, state ‘potty bill’ may pass
On May 1 of last year, Houston City Councilman Mike Knox participated in a picket outside a local Target. The demonstration was in protest of the department store’s inclusive policies regarding the transgender community, as well as other pro-LGBT policies.
The most controversial policy in question pertained to bathrooms. Patrons were allowed to use the bathroom matching their gender identity. Knox and company would rather Target prohibit transgender people from using their preferred bathroom, although they were light on specifics about how that should be enforced.
Enter Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Flanked by state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, Patrick earlier this month announced the filing of a bill, Senate Bill 6, which aims to crack down on “predator” men using women’s restrooms, ostensibly under the cover of nondiscrimination ordinances that protect the transgender community.
There is no evidence of predators abusing nondiscrimination ordinances. The data simply is not there. This point repeatedly has been espoused, particularly in the lead-up to Houston’s shameful 2015 referendum on equal rights for LGBT people. The bathroom myth led to the nondiscrimination ordinance’s downfall and the election of conservatives such as Knox to the City Council.
The handwringing and complacency I have seen since Patrick’s legislative proposal was unveiled is unnerving for many reasons. Far too many otherwise reasonable people have assured me that SB 6 — a meanspirited bill — will not survive Joe Straus’ House. This is wrong. The complacency reminds me of similar assurances in the leadup to the nondiscrimination ordinance debacle in Houston. And this time, the stakes are much greater, as numerous studies have shown that a bill such as this one will have the express effect, if not the insidious intention, of killing transgender teens because of the stigma they’ll face and the hate the legislation will foster.
Potty politics is a strong force. The people swept up in its furor are sometimes not limited to a single political party. In 2014, Houston City Council Member Dwight Boykins, a Democrat on the nominally nonpartisan body, voted against the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance as he callously pandered to his constituents’ will and against justice. Some Democrats in the state Legislature, more concerned with their reelection than their legacy, could easily do the same.
Knox’s office refused comment. And I had similar trouble in nailing down Republican positions on Patrick’s bill. My hometown legislators, state Sen. Joan Huffman and state Rep. Sarah Davis, both Republicans of Harris County, provided no clarity. Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas, tweeted at me that he was skeptical of such skirmishes in the “culture wars,” but did not state his position.
Hatred is often surreptitious. It hides but is ever ubiquitous in plain sight if one simply looks hard enough. SB 6 has a good chance of passing, no matter what a complacent and often incorrect establishment has to say. The underlying hatred is being espoused by so many, including our leaders.
Much attention will be placed on Washington, D.C., with Donald Trump’s new presidency. But state and local affairs matter a great deal, as well. People could die if this bill becomes law. We need to remember what our representatives do, specifically keeping it in mind during the next election.