Texaco may have put out a welcome sign…clearly Texas does not!
Once upon a time the only fear we had about using a public rest room was whether it was clean or not.
“Nothing is more welcome to experienced motorists than a Texaco Restroom sign,” begins the copy on this 1941 ad, “for they learn to trust it.”
Texaco may have put out a welcome sign, but for the transgender community in Texas there is anything but a welcome.
There Are No Hero’s in Houston
Residents of Houston Texas won’t need a road map to find a safe bathroom. Vintage Esso map
Transphobic Texans who successfully waged an aggressive fear mongering campaign may be crowing “Your Welcome” to a grateful public saving the resident of Houston from an initiative they erroneously claimed would have “allowed men full access to women’s rest rooms.”
Uh oh, is that a tom-girl headed for the girls rest room? Vintage illustration Texaco Gas 1950s
Fears about who can use which bathroom sent some scared voters racing to the voting machines to vote down HERO an initiative to ban discrimination over factors of gender and sexual orientation.
Those opposing the law -which aimed to extend civil rights protection in housing, employment and public facilities to all Houstonians- managed to hijack public discourse about the law into a murky world of possible threats posed by sexual predators. and “deviants.”
Houston you have a problem.
Opponents of gay rights legislation are ramping up none too quietly. LGBT community is still vulnerable when it comes to housing,employment and some basic civil rights.
Conservatives are now emboldened declaring that the rest of the country should work to defeat any measure that is similarly deceptive and dangerous.
The only danger here is they may continue to succeed in their very unwelcoming tactics and initiatives.
When it comes to LGBT rights there is no rest until the discrimination stops.
© Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream, 2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
You Might Also Enjoy
Gay Civil Rights You Still Gotta Work It
Envisioning The American Dream 
so that’s what HERO was about…letting transgender folks use the female restroom…the main ad i saw was stupid because if a man (or transgender) attacks a child it’s against the law!!! i guess it’s about privacy…well, if you’re in a stall ain’t nobody supposed to be peeking, that’s illegal too…and men do have a problem with…this issue, and i suspect gay women who look like males may have issues as well…but i don’t see the necessity for HERO…
LikeLike
As Esquire magazine so delicately put it regarding this initiative, some peoples minds are in the toilet. HERO the proposition that was defeated was derisively known as the “bathroom bill.” The law aimed to extend civil protection in housing, employment and public facilities to all Houstonians regardless of race, color, ethnicity, age, religion as well as sexuality and gender identification. The public battle was hijacked by the opponents who managed to pull public discourse about the law into a murky world of possible threats poised by “sexual predators.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
so, it’ll be reworded to leave out restrooms…and sexual prevs could try to use that as a defense…though it won’t work…idk…i don’t understand why restrooms were included…of course some walmarts have “family” restrooms…and many businesses have single stall restrooms…
LikeLike