Anchorage Anti-Trans Proposition 1 Defeated!

While many of us were heading to bed in the Lower 48, the citizens of Anchorage, Alaska were counting ballots in the latest trans rights battleground.

The anti-trans hate group the Alaska Family Council had managed to get a proposition on the ballot that if it had passed, would have stripped the trans protetctions from the city's LGBTQ rights law passed in 2015 by the Anchorage Assembly.   Proposition 1 would have also barred transgender people from using the facilities and locker rooms that matched their gender presentation, even if they had changed their identity documents.

Translation:  The Alaska Family Council haters were trying to pass a nastier Last Frontier version of North Carolina's HB 2. 

It was also going to be the first time that the city of Anchorage would attempt to use a mail-in ballot for a civic election, and turnout was expected to be high.   Anchorage is also the largest city in the state of Alaska .

The Yes on 1 IForces of Intolerance rolled out the usual anti-trans playbook of anti-trans lies and fear mongering but were outgunned by Fair Anchorage, the coalition group working to defeat the unjust Proposition 1   

The Yes on 1 haters raised $128,000 to spend on their scampaign to $800,000 for the Fair Anchorage coalition.   Fair Anchorage not only had more money, they learned the lessons from the failed HERO defense fight here in H-town and attacked the bathroom predator myth head on.

Meanwhile the Yes on 1 side was committing the cardinal sin in Alaskan politics of using a non-Alaskan in their commercials. 

In addition to ads from Alaska' native community, who have felt the sting of discrimination themselves, advocating for their trans neighbors and urging a NO vote,  Fair Anchorage also had local trans people in their commercials and engaged in their coalition of groups fighting this latest trans rights battle.



That predictably deployed trans predator lie by the YES on 1 trans oppressors was also blown up not only in this ad featuring an APD officer, but  a statement from the Fair Anchorage campaign that quoted firefighters, former state reps and a former police spokesperson. 

It also pointed out that a YES vote would be bad for Anchorage.

“While backers of Prop 1 claim they're advocating for public safety, nothing could be further from the truth," Mike Stumbaugh, president of Anchorage Firefighters Union Local 1264, said, according to the press release issued by Kati Ward, Fair Anchorage campaign manager. "And in the 200-plus cities and 18 states with laws nearly identical to Anchorage's nondiscrimination law, the results have been the same: Protecting transgender people is not a threat to public safety — here in Anchorage or anywhere else in the country."

Over 40 Anchorage based businesses also opposed the passage of Proposition 1 as bad for business and the city reputation. 

Fair Anchorage not only aggressively tackled and demolished the predator myth, they also took on and demolished another of the right wing's favorite lies in claiming that by letting transgender women poop and pee in women's restrooms, cisgender women's safety was compromised.



And here's one of the NO on 1 ads that featured a trans person and their parent




35,054 ballots (17.4% of the city's voters) had already been returned before the April 3 deadline.  With all the ballots counted, Proposition 1 was defeated by a 53%-46% margin.

Congrats to the Fair Anchorage coalition for decisively beating the Alaska Family Council haters.
That's wonderful news considering Massachusetts is facing its own looming trans rights election this November. 

It also lends credence to what I have been saying in terms of transphobia becoming less of a winning issue for Republicans and the conservative movement 

TX Women Leaders Rally in Austin

The clock is ticking toward the end of the Special Oppression Session on August 18, and while we have SB 3 and the other hate bills hung up in the House, we're still keeping the pressure up on the GOP majority.

I'll be in Houston raising hell at City Council later today, but my heart will be with the group of Texas women leaders countering the big whopper that Lying Lois Kolkhorst told last Thursday at the faux faith based hate rally and make it clear that Texas women oppose this unjust bill.

***

Texas women will stand together against discrimination—and together, we'll urge lawmakers to reject the dangerous proposed bathroom bills in the final two weeks of special session.

Some lawmakers claim this is a woman’s privacy issue. It is not. They claim this is a safety issue. It is not. Law enforcement officials from across the United States and right here in Texas have made clear that this is a solution in search of a problem. The leading sexual assault expert in our state says this bill will not protect women from sexual assault. Now, women are taking the lead. This is not about women’s safety or privacy.

We are mothers. We are business owners and business executives. We are teachers. We are active in our communities, in local government and in our schools. We are faith leaders and actively involved in our respected houses of worship. We are conservatives, liberals and independents. We represent the rich diversity of our state and we reject attempts to divide us and to score political points through fear and misinformation.

RSVP to let us know you can be there—and please spread the word to women in your network who you know oppose discrimination and agree Texas should be open for business to everyone.

If time permits, please plan to visit legislators while you are at the Capitol to express your opposition to the bathroom bill.
***

The Texas Women Leaders rally will take place starting at 11 AM on the south steps of the Texas Capitol, with the rain date location being the Capitol Extension Auditorium in E1.004.

Hope you ATX peeps will give them some love.

SB 3 Up For A Texas Senate Debate and Vote Today

The unjust SB 3 bill is being debated in the Texas Senate right now, and if they thought they would be able to blitz this vote through, they underestimated the fight in the Texas Senate Democrats with the exception of Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr.

As this debate is raging on the floor of the Senate, there was a rally held on the south steps of the Capitol today in which police chiefs from across Texas oppose SB 3 because it is in their words unenforceable and harmful to our state's economy.

The debate is being livestreamed on the Texas Tribune website if you wish to watch the debate

TX Anti-Trans Hate Bills 46 and 50 Filed

Trans Texans and our allies now know what unjust bill numbers we have to fight when the Texas GOP Special Oppression Session cranks up July 18.

Rep. Ron Simmons (R-Carrollton) filed  on yesterday two unjust trans oppressive bills aimed at Texas trans children and Texas trans adults, HB 46 and HB 50

HB 46 is aimed at Texas trans adults, and would prohibit all political subdivisions, including municipalities, school districts, state colleges and universities from adopting and enforcing any ordinances or policies that protect transgender people in bathrooms or changing facilities.

HB 50 is aimed at Texas trans kids.  It is similar to the odious HB 46, but focuses on school districts by prohibiting them from adopting and enforcing policies that protect transgender students  in batrooms or changing facilities.

Simmons was the author of the failed HB 2899 that Gov Greg Abbott (R) liked but died in the House State Affairs committee during the regular session.

Hundreds of trans Texans (including this blogger) and our allies showed up in Austin to express our disgust and outrage over this attempt to criminalize the lives of transgender Texans.

Guess Ron and the Texas Republican Party didn't learn their lesson from the recently concluded regular session that the vast majority of Texans oppose their unjust right wing crap.

We'll also be watching SB 23, a bill proposed and filed yesterday by Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) that would prohibit cities, counties and other political subdivisions from passing non discriminations laws  on a basis not written in state law, and wipe out the already existing non discrimination laws in Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Plano and San Antonio.

What is it about you conservafools and your obsession with oppressing people you don't like?

Looks like we'll be busy fighting oppression for the 30 days of this upcoming Special Oppression session, so you know what to do.

Light those phones up in their offices and don't relent until all those unjust bills are dead.

IBM Statement Opposing Texas Discriminatory Laws

With the potential of an anti-trans special session increasing, Texas based companies that opposed SB 6 and HB 2899 are starting to speak up, with IBM being the first to release a statement opposing the passage of any discriminatory laws.

“IBM has a longstanding commitment against discrimination in any form and believes that an inclusive and welcoming environment is the best way to attract talented individuals to our company.   

As a major employer in the state, we urge the Texas legislature and Governor Abbott not to pass or enact laws that will allow for the discrimination of any person based on who they are. These laws do not reflect IBM’s values of diversity, acceptance and inclusion that we have upheld for decades, and they have no place in the 21st Century.” 

– Diane Gherson, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, IBM

Thank you IBM.  Any other Texas based company wish to speak out in opposition to a special session specifically for the purpose of passing an unjust law?.

Texas GOP Messes With Texas Trans Kids

Pissed off because their big unjust anti-trans discriminatory bills in SB 6 and HB 2899 were bottled up and died in committee,  the Texas GOP majority on Sunday, facing a looming threat of a special session, decided to switch tactics and attack Texas trans kids.

The Texas GOP House decided to attach an anti-trans amendment to SB 2078, which was supposed to be focused on Texas school districts 'multihazard emergency operations plans' and by a 91-50 party line vote amended it to require transgender students to use a single stall restroom, locker room, and changing facility at their school if they didn't want to use one based on their birth gender.

The amended bill then passed a 92-49 second reading vote as trans kids and their parents observed the unjust proceedings from the House gallery.

The Texas Democrats put up a fight, with Rep Senfronia Thomson (D-Houston) pointing out along with other Dems during a tense House floor debate that this was nothing more than a replay of Jim Crow era segregation as the Republicans tried to pathetically claim it wasn't meant to target transgender students.

“White. Colored. I was living through that era ... bathrooms divided us then, and it divides us now,” said Rep. Thompson, the dean of the TX House, to her colleagues. “America has long recognized that separate but equal is not equal at all.”

Equality Texas CEO Chuck Smith said this in a statement concerning SB 2078 and another unjust bill in HB 3859:

“Tonight, the state of Texas voted to advance two bills that discriminate against LGBTQ Texans. SB 2078 allows for continued discrimination against transgender students with regard to restroom facilities and HB 3859 allows faith based child welfare providers to use taxpayer money to refuse to serve LBGTQ people. No amount of discrimination is acceptable. There is no middle ground. All discrimination is bad, full stop. Targeting some of the most vulnerable children in our state is abhorrent, shameful, and disgraceful. The Texas lawmakers of the 85th legislative session are on the wrong side of history. No matter how upset or scared our LGBTQ friends and families are feeling this evening, Equality Texas wants you to know that we stand with you; and we will fight to protect you.”

The unjust SB 2078 It still faces a third reading vote later today before it heads back to the Texas Senate for its approval before it goes to Governor Abbott's desk

Late Night In The ATX Fighting Trans Hate

It was a long day and a late night for all of us justice loving people who were there from across the state of Texas to register our opposition to the unjust HB 2899.

Registration didn't start for oral testimony until 10 AM, but when it did I was one of the first peeps at the computer set up in our hospitality room to sign up to have my say.  I was surprised because my name got called a little early in the evening to testify, but once again, being in Austin for the last few days thanks to a major assist from my BTAC fam in Maddox and Rebecca Jackson made that possible.

There were 389 people who registered to testify on HB 2899.  Of that number, the overwhelming majority of us were in opposition to its passage with only 18 people for it and 2 neutral.

And after a day that started for many of us a 7 AM CDT, the hearing finally got cranked up at 11:45 PM and went on until 4:40 AM.  

This committee was more diverse than the Senate one that couldn't hide their disdain for us a few weeks ago when we Texas trans folks, Mama and Papa Bears and our allies once again bumrushed our state capitol to express our opposition to the unjust SB 2899.

House State Affair Chair Rep. Byron Cook (R) was making sure that he ran the proceedings in an evenhanded and fair manner.

n between the time I was at the Capitol talking to numerous people, getting my lunchtime Slurpee and wings and contemplating how and what I would say to the committee,  I was getting do something I don't get a chance to do back home in Houston:. television interviews.

Thanks to Adela Uchida of KEYE-TV (the local CBS outlet) and KXAN-TV along with interviews in the Texas Observer and another local media print outlet, I was getting the message out there that this bill deserved to die and discrimination aimed at any Texan is unacceptable.

By the time I finally stepped to the podium somewhere around 12:55 AM, an Anna Julia Cooper quote was echoing in my head before I took a deep breath and handled my human rights business on behalf of my Black trans community and the orgs that I represent.

What that Cooper quote, you ask?

'Only the black woman can say 'when and where I enter, in the quiet, undisputed dignity of my womanhood, without violence and without suing or special patronage, then and there the whole Negro race enters with me'

I got to crash a little after 3 AM because they called my name early, but I went to sleep knowing there were more than 50+ people still waiting to testify and those folks waiting to speak their minds to the committee were overwhelmingly going to be doing so in opposition to the bill.

And once again, I got to rep my Texas and hometown Black trans community.

As for what happened when the testimony concluded, the committee left the unjust HB 2899 pending, which means they can either call it to a vote or just sit on it until May 29.

How about y'all just kill the unjust bill and call it a day?   

HB 2899 Hearing Is Today

Once again I'm hanging out with a few of my friends from across Texas waiting to testify against HB 2899.  It's a bill that will not only bar Texas cities from passing ne non discrimination laws, it would wipe out current passed non discrimination laws in Austin, Dallas, El Paso and San Antonio in addition to oppressing trans Texans.

Registration opened up at 10 AM, and it is supposed to be taking place at the John H Reagan Building.  

It has been postponed a few times already, and we are prepared to be here for a while.

If you wish to register your opposition to HB 2899, you can do so at this link 

Check my Twitter page also for my running commentary about the hearing, or the hurry up and wait nature of this that seems to be what's going on right now.

HB 2899 Must Die!

Looks like the Republican trans oppressors in the Texas House were watching what was happening in North carolina when they passed their non-repeal of HB 2.

Several Texas House Republicans led by Ron Simmons. dismayed that the unjust SB 6 isn't moving in the House, filed this HB 2899 bill along with co sponsors Cole Hefner, Tom Oliverson, Terry Wilson, Jodie Laubenberg and Valorie Swanson.

It is basically a copy of the discriminatory bill that was just passed in NC, and seeks to do the same thing that SB 6 does in stripping Texas cities of their ability to write human rights law for their citizens in addition to oppressing trans people.

Rep Simmons, the sponsor of this bill is trying to paint HB 2899 as a 'reasonable compromise' but it is still state sponsored discrimination and needs to be called out for what it is.

It has been assigned to the House State Affairs Committee, the same committee where SB 6 is currently bottled up.  You may want to call the members of this committee and politely urge them to kill this legislative abomination.

There will also be a hearing on HB 2899 on Wednesday April 19, so if you can get to Austin, I urge you to do so to make your voice heard about this unjust bill.    

Texas Transgender Oppression Act Passes In Senate

Despite the valiant efforts of the Terrific Ten Democratic senators who offered multiple amendments to give the GOP oppressors an opportunity to prove SB 6 wasn't anti- trans discrimination, it passed 21- 10 late Tuesday afternoon.

It also proved a point I've been making for several years now in that the most dangerous bigots are the ones who have legislative power.

There was one alleged Democrat, Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr  (DINO-Brownsville) who voted for the reprehensible bill.   Somebody in the Valley needs to primary challenge his transphobic azz in 2018.

Ironically his son, Rep. Eddie Lucio III opposes SB 6.

Thanks to Sen Sylvia Garcia, Sen Jose Rodriguez, Sen John Whitmire and other Democratic lawmakers opposed to SB 6 who offered numerous amendments to give the GOP a chance to prove that SB 6 wasn't anti-trans legislative oppression, and they led by Sen Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) swatted them down while disingenuously trying to make the laughable claim the bill wasn't discriminatory.  

SB 6 will now move on to the Texas House, where it faces a much tougher road to passage and one in which Speaker of the House Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) has already stated his opposition to the unjust Texas Transgender Oppression Act.

Transgender Texans, the Texas business community, convention planners in Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio and fair minded Texans across the state hope he isn't selling woof tickets about that, and he buries the bill in a House committee that won't let that affront to Texas values see the light of day again..

Moni's SB 6 Opposition Testimony

As many of you TransGriot readers are aware of,  I was one of those 271 Texans who headed to Austin and spent several hours waiting in the overflow rooms in our state capitol building to express our oral opposition to SB 6, the Texas Transgender Oppression Act.

There were another 1302 Texans who expressed their distaste for SB online

Thanks to my friends at Transform Houston, I now have video of that March 7 testimony in front of the Senate State Affairs Committee for you to watch.

Enjoy

  

Texas Orgs Launch 'I Pee With LGBT' Campaign

The pressure is mounting as an increasingly broad coalition of Texans are gearing up to stop the Texas Transgender Oppression Bill, AKA SB 6.   Lt. Governor Dan Patrick's office has received over 10,000 calls against it as opposed to just 200 in favor of the unjust bill (keep 'em coming).

Texas businesses, the NBA, NCAA and NFL and organizations have warned their events will not be coming to Texas if they pass it.

Send some of those calls against SB 6 Sen. Lois Kolkhorst's (R-Brenham) way too.   The bill was filed back in January, but as of yet there hasn't been a hearing date set for this unjust and unnecessary bill.

It is already illegal under Texas law to harm or harass someone in a Texas bathroom.  What the right wingers also won't tell you is there has been no increase in public safety incidents in Texas cities that currently allow people to use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify.

Passing the unjust bill would harm Texas business and our state's economy to the tune of billions of dollars. Just ask North Carolina.

A bathroom is not where women and children are at risk. Where our public bathrooms are concerned, it is transgender people who are the real targets:

70% of transgender men and women report having been verbally or physically attacked while using a restroom.

As part of the ongoing campaign to flush SB 6, the Texas ACLU in conjunction with Legacy Community Health Care have joined forces to launch this 60 second video highlighting the discriminatory nature of SB 6 entitled 'Taking A Seat, Making A Stand'  as part of their 'I Pee With LGBT' Campaign.

 

There's also an I Pee With LGBT website that is part of this campaign, and I hope it along with efforts of thousands of Texans combine to finally flush discrimination aimed at the trans community from the state of Texas.

TransGriot Update:  Discovered the intersting factoid after I posted this that there are two trans people in this commercial.   Can you spot those trans folks?  
.

Gov Abbott Whines About NFL Warning About SB6

So far during this rollout of the Texas Transgender Oppression Bill, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has been content to let Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) and Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) get their hands and reps dirty in pushing oppression of Texas trans people via SB 6.

On Tuesday the governor finally opened his mouth when the NFL warned that if SB 6 passed, there will be no more Super Bowls for Houston and Dallas.

"We want all fans to feel welcomed at our events and NFL policies prohibit discrimination based on age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or any other improper standard," said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy in a prepared statement.

"If a proposal that is discriminatory or inconsistent with our values were to become law there, that would certainly be a factor considered when thinking about awarding future events."

What future NFL events you ask?   In addition to the big prize of Super Bowls, there's also hosting the NFL Draft, NFL owners meetings and the Pro Bowl.

Abbott  issued this response to the NFL:

"'For some low-level NFL adviser to come out and say they are going to micromanage and try to dictate to the state of Texas what types of policies we're going to pass in our state, that's unacceptable.  

'We don't care what the NFL thinks and certainly what their political policies are because they are not a political arm of the state of Texas or the United States of America.  They need to learn their place in the United States, which is to govern football, not politics."    

You'd better care what the NFL thinks, Gov. Abbott.  The NFL isn't playing on this and they have the power to determine whether Houston or Dallas gets their multimillion dollar generating championship event ever again.

You and your Texas Republican buddies should stick to governing the state and not using your power to legislatively bully other Texans who aren't white hetero male conservatives.

If you think the NFL is selling woof tickets on this, ask the state of Arizona, who lost Super Bowl XXVII in 1990 to Los Angeles because of their failure to enact a MLK holiday, and nearly lost Super Bowl XLIX  in 2014 over a 'license to discriminate' bill before then Gov. Jan Brewer (R) vetoed it.

The state of Georgia was warned that if they went ahead with passing a discriminatory 'religious freedom' law, they could kiss their chances of getting Super Bowls in Mercedes-Benz Stadium goodbye.

Gov. Nathan  Deal (R) vetoed that unjust legislation, and Atlanta was subsequently rewarded by the NFL with Super Bowl LIII in 2019.  Super Bowls are also scheduled for Minneapolis, Miami and Los Angeles

Note to Greg Abbott, all those future Super Bowl host cities have non discrimination ordinances in place that prohibit anti-trans discrimination.

Gov. Deal when push came to shove wasn't going to be delusional enough to let political ideology cost his state the millions a Super Bowl brings to the state financial coffers  But I am worried about Gov. Abbott and my Texas GOP know nothings in Austin doing the stupid right wing thing with the unjust SB 6 just to curry favor with your Texas Teabagging voters.

The Super Bowls have been awarded by the NFL through 2021, so the next opportunity Houston or Dallas would be able to host one wouldn't be until then.

But our chances of Dallas or Houston hosting them or San Antonio getting an NFL franchise die if SB 6 is passed.

I'm appalled that you're willing Gov. Abbott to cost the Lone Star State millions and pass a potentially unconstitutional law just to prove to your base how far you and your party are willing to go to dehumanize Texas trans people.
.

NASW Texas Comes Out Against SB 6

Was happy to see that the National Association of Social Workers/ Texas Chapter has released a statement opposing the introduction of SB 6, The Texas Transgender Oppression Act.

***

NASW/TX is dismayed by the introduction of Senate Bill 6 (SB6) into the Texas State Legislature and the consistent approach by legislators supporting this bill to mislead the general public. This is continually being done by falsely portraying transgender people as a threat to personal privacy and the safety of women, children. Additionally, this bill serves to invalidate transgender identities and regulate sex and gender stereotypes in areas of public accommodation. Although supporters of this bill deny that it targets transgender people, if passed, this legislation would have harmful impacts on the mental health, physical health, and overall well-being of transgender Texans. This population of Texans is estimated to be the second largest transgender population in the United States1. The NASW/TX Chapter is committed to resisting unjust legislation such as  SB6 by working with transgender community members, experts in the field of gender affirmative care, and our allies across professions. NASW/TX is committed to inform providers, educators, legislators, and the public at large of the adverse outcomes associated with discriminatory policies that further marginalize communities of diverse gender identities and expressions.

SB6 discriminates against transgender Texans in the following ways:

- Denies transgender people equitable access to appropriate (i.e. in accordance with gender identity) bathrooms and changing facilities in government buildings, public buildings, public schools, and universities by enforcing use of facilities based on “biological sex” as “stated on a person’s birth certificate.”

- Requires school districts, local governments, and state agencies to adopt a policy in which bathrooms are designated for and used by people according to their “biological sex” and enforces civil penalties if a person is in violation of these bathroom policies.

- Nullifies and invalidates existing local ordinances guaranteeing equitable access to public accommodations for transgender persons.

- Allows residents to submit written complaints regarding perceptions of public accommodation violations, which would therefore launch an investigation by the Texas attorney general.

While there have been no instances of transgender people entering areas of public accommodation to harm others, well established empirical evidence highlights alarming rates of discrimination and violence faced by transgender people in private and public domains. According to the largest national transgender survey to date (N=27,715), 59% of transgender people avoid public restrooms at work, school and other areas due to fear of confrontation. In addition, 31% of transgender people forgo drinking or eating in efforts to avoid restroom use. Barriers to restroom access lead the majority of transgender people (54%) to experience damaging health outcomes such as dehydration, kidney infection, and urinary tract infections. Some (10%) even experience adverse educational outcomes such as absences and dropping out of school due to lack of access to public accommodations matching their gender identity. Finally, denial of access to restrooms in accordance with gender identity is known to be significantly associated with detrimental mental health outcomes such as suicidality among transgender persons.

 The NASW Code of Ethics charges social workers with responsibilities to clients, colleagues, and the broader society. This charge includes efforts to eliminate discrimination, oppression, and other forms of social injustice among groups including transgender people, who are referred to by the phrase gender identity or expression throughout the Code9. Social workers are called to focus these efforts in areas of Cultural Competence and Social Diversity, Respect, Discrimination, as well as Social and Political Action.

NASW/TX is proud to support and affirm civil rights for all and cannot support the discrimination against any group of Texans. Based on the content of SB6, empirical evidence regarding the impact of discriminatory policies on the lives of transgender people, and the directives of the NASW Code of Ethics, it is clear that SB6, if passed, would be detrimental for transgender and gender expansive Texans.

Therefore, NASW/TX opposes SB6 and urges social work practitioners and students in the state of Texas to take action to ensure this bill is not passed and transgender people are protected.

Thank you NASW Texas for standing up for our community and your fellow Texans. .

Lois, Stop Lying About Your Transphobic Bill

In the latest version of #AlternativeFacts Texas Style , Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) tried to tell the lie that SB 6, or as I call it The Texas Transgender Oppression Act  is 'not about the transgender ' or aimed at us.

Bull feces.   The Texas Republican Party has made hating transgender people part of their 2016 party platform, so yeah, it IS about us.

Oh, you didn't hear about that?   Lois just to refresh your memory since you, Dan Patrick, Ken Paxton and your party are busy up in Austin wasting our tax dollars and legislative time in this session oppressing trans people.

Ahem, from the 2016 Texas Republican Party Platform:

Gender Identity — We urge the enactment of legislation addressing individuals’ use of bathrooms, showers and locker rooms that correspond with their biologically determined sex. 

This anti-trans plank was in the section of the Republican Party platform entitled Educating Our Children:

Facility Utilization-We support public school facilities such as restrooms, locker rooms and showers being reserved for the use of students based on biological birth gender. 

So yes, Lois, you and your party are pushing anti-trans oppression, and you need to stop lying about it.  Transphobic discrimination is not a Texas value, and is such a bad look for you.

It may also result in loss of your Senate seat.  Ask Debbie Riddle and Gilbert Pena how well attempting to oppress Texas trans people worked for them in their respective 2016 House reelection bids.

Which Girl Do You Send To The Boys Bathroom?

For those of you who believe the lies of Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and Sen Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) SB 6 is needed and necessary to 'protect our children'.

Yeah yeah, we've heard that GOP  talking point lie before.

Since y'all wanna talk about children, take a look at the photo at the top of this page.   All of these are girls between 6 and 8 years of age.   At least one of them is trans feminine.   Can you spot her?

And here's my question.   Which one of these girls do you send to the men's room or the boys bathroom to be harassed or worse?

Which one would you send to the boy's bathroom Lt Governor Patrick and Sen. Kolkhorst?

The immoral and unjust SB 6, the Transgender Oppression Act must die!

TransGriot Update:  Call Lt Governor Dan Patrick's office at 512-463-0001 to let him know you oppose this unjust and immoral SB 6 bill.     Sen. Lois Kolkhorst's Austin office is 512-463-0118  Let her know (politely please) that you oppose SB 6.

SB6, The Texas Transgender Oppression Act Being Introduced Today

It has been said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  

The 85th Texas Legislative session starts January 10.  Since Texas Republicans are all about repeating failed conservative policies and expecting a different result, why is it not a surprise to me that Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick wants to clone North Carolina's Hate Bill 2 and bring it to the Lone Star State?.

In a few hours that political bully Patrick will hide behind TX state Senator Lois Kolkhorst's skirts at a 1 PM CST press conference announcing that he is filing SB 6, the Women's Privacy and Business Protection Act  Transgender Oppression Act, an unjust copy of the odious HB 2 that cost North Carolina over $600 million in lost business and Gov Pat McCrory his job.

The Texas Association of Business is on record as firmly opposed to SB 6, and has estimated that if it passes, it will cost Texas businesses $8 billion dollars in lost revenue, numbers that Patrick and his like minded GOP legislative oppressors are cavalierly dismissing.

Here in Houston, a Flush SB6 press conference is being held at City Hall starting at 1 PM in which we will begin the fight to kill this unjust and immoral bill.

It's on Dan Patrick and Lois Kokhorst.

TransGriot Update:  Not that he's introduced Hate Bill 6,  Patrick is asking the public to call his office and gauge support for it.   Call his office at 512-463-0001 and let him know that you oppose SB6    And nope, you don't have to be a Texas resident to do that.  

Rockwall TX Attempt To Pass Anti-Trans Ordinance Fails

While I was in the Dallas area for BTAC, the Teapublican mayor of the nearby suburb of Rockwall, TX decided to indulge his oppressor gene and jump on the GOP Hate The T******s bandwagon and proposed another unjust ordinance targeting us.

What Jim Pruitt didn't count on was the resistance and negative reaction to it that swiftly came.

None of the Rockwall City Council members supported it proposed hate legislation, and neither did one of the city's largest employer in the Hilton Lake Ray Hubbard.

The proposed hate ordinance drew the largest crowd for a Rockwall City Council meeting in several years with the main council chamber at standing room only capacity and every seat in the overflow room quickly being taken.  There were also 100 trans people from the DFW metro area in full effect protesting and commenting against Pruitt's proposed trans hate ordinance.

When Pruitt called for the vote at 9:35 PM after the public comment period, it did not receive a second from the five council members present, and died at that point.

While this is a win for the Texas trans community, we know that our lieutenant governor is already proposing that Texas pass a statewide anti-trans hate bill when our legislature reconvenes in January.  

So we Texas trans peeps get to celebrate this Rockwall win, and go back to trashing the Texas Republican Party and their like minded allies for pimping anti trans hatred for political advantage..

Congrats Rockwall for demonstrating to the entire nation that there are reasonable, thoughtful people that live inside the borders of the Lone Star State.

Unjust Tennessee Anti-Trans Bill Dies In Committee!

I was alerted by the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition to the introduction of an unjust bill aimed at our trans kids in the Volunteer State.   The latest attempt to legislate anti-trans hate, HB 2414, the Transgender Student Bathroom Harassment Act.was sponsored by Rep Susan Lynn (R- Mount Juliet).

Those of you who live in her district know what to do to her this November.  Vote her butt out of office.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam (R) had also expressed concerned about what the unjust bill would do to imperil the state's Title IX education funding.

Thanks to the efforts of the TTPC, the Tennessee trans community, our fair minded allies, and the countless other folks who called, showed up for the meetings of the House Education Administration and Planning Subcommittee to urged the members of that committee to not go forward with that bill, your efforts were successful.

According to chatter and reports from multiple sources, I'm pleased to report that HB 2414 has died in committee!    A unanimous committee vote was taken to study it over the summer, effectively killing the bill.

 "Once again we saw today how meeting with trans young people changed hearts and minds," said ACLU Staff Attorney Chase Strangio in a statement.  "Our common humanity can unite us and we can push back against these costly and discriminatory impulses if we center those most affected."

" It is an exciting day in Tennessee and I am thankful for the brave young people who are making the world a better place for us all,." added Strangio.


As to what is happening with the unjust senate companion bill, SB 2737, we'll have to keep an eye on that to ensure it dies as well.

Congratulations to my Tennessee trans family for killing that unjust legislative attack on the humanity of our trans kids who live in the Volunteer State.

Unjust SB 180 Passes KY Senate

Got the news from my old Kentucky stomping grounds that the GOP controlled Kentucky Senate in Frankfort went there and passed the unjust SB 180, a 'right to discriminate' bill sponsored by Sen. Albert Robinson (R-London).

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article66200452.html#storylink=cpy

It passed the Kentucky Senate on a 22-16 vote with five Republican senators, Julie Raque Adams (R-Louisville), Alice Forgy Kerr (R-Lexington), Christian McDaniel (R-Latonia), Carroll Gibson (R-Leitchfield) and Wil Schroeder (R-Wilder) joining the 11 Democratic senators in opposing the unjust bill.

It moves on to the Democratic controlled Kentucky House, where Speaker Greg Stumbo (D-Prestonburg) stated this bill was headed to committee to die.

"We took an oath to defend the Constitution, not violate it," said Speaker Stumbo.

The 2016 legislative session ends on April 12.and I'll be watching along with my former fairness campaign colleagues to make sure that the unjust SB 180 never makes it out of committee.