Just a couple of weeks ago, Texas governor, Greg Abbott, publicly supported the bill for the first time. He has urged the Republican controlled legislature to send him a bill to sign before the end of May, propelling Texas to become one of the only states in America (aside from North Carolina) to implement such a bill. However, after having been met with much public upset, the bill has been slightly revised so that it doesn't explicitly say that transgender people are prohibited from using certain bathrooms.This modified measure was intended to gain the support of large businesses in Texas that had been concerned about the bill's potential hit the economy (some say it would cost the government millions of dollars). The altered bill would allow Texan cities to pass discriminatory laws banning certain individuals from using the restrooms of their choice.
This "Bathroom Bill" has not yet been approved but hopefully the discriminatory measures taken by said bill will not be legalized in yet another state.
Great article. I was unaware that this piece of legislation existed and it is clearly a significant piece of policy from the history of transgender society. In class, we have largely learned about prejudice against women, African-Americans, and homosexuals, but it's cool to learn about how transgenders experienced hardship during U.S. history as well.
ReplyDeleteIt is strange that legislation like this exists, but after taking this class I now know that this kind of governmental discrimination isn't new--it originated long before (and after) slavery was abolished, and thrived under Reagan's traditionalism. The moral majority created an upsurge of legislation that it still affecting us today. For example, the anti-gay movement "pioneered" by Anita Bryant, who famously said "If gays are granted rights, next we'll have to give rights to prostitutes and to people who sleep with St. Bernards and to nail biters." For more information, consider reading the book "At Any Cost" by Anita Bryant.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post. It is staggering to see states taking direct action to promote prejudice against the LGBTQ community. It is also noteworthy that the changes to the bill were made with the purpose of trying to save money, not in attempts to treat transgender individuals more fairly. How can we relate this to the segregatory policies of the 1960's?
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