Support NeoGAF

[Kthulhu]

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed Thursday — before a room full of thousands of the state’s most devout Republicans — to help North Carolina fight policies that give transgender people the ability to use the restroom of their choice.

The question of who can go into which public restroom, based on the gender a person identifies with now or the one they were born with, became national news after North Carolina officials passed a law requiring transgender people to use restrooms that corresponds with the sex indicated on their birth certificate.

The issue, which has already come up in a handful of Texas cities, erupted in Fort Worth this week when Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for Fort Worth school Superintendent Kent Scribner’s resignation over guidelines outlining bathroom use, sparking protests on both sides of the issue.

Abbott publicly weighed in on the issue for the first time Thursday, telling thousands of delegates at the Republican Party of Texas state convention that “Obama is turning bathrooms into courtroom issues.”

And he said it’s time for him to get involved in the issue.

“I want you to know that I am working with the governor of North Carolina,” he said. “And we are going to fight back.”

Abbott and Patrick spoke to thousands of Republicans gathered at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center at the beginning of the three-day gathering, which is intended to build enthusiasm for the presidential election and to let delegates approve a platform, party rules, party chair — and to choose who will go to the national convention to represent Texas.

Patrick promised that lawmakers next year will pass legislation to “keep men out of ladies’ rooms.”

“Just so you’re not confused, when you go to the restroom, the m does not stand for ‘make up your mind,’” Patrick said. “And the w doesn’t stand for ‘whatever.’”

Source: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article77207667.html

From a different source:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is vowing to help defend North Carolina's law on transgender restrooms — and hinting that a similar measure could be coming soon to his state.

Abbott, a former state attorney general, told delegates at the Texas GOP convention in Dallas on Thursday, "I am working with the governor of North Carolina, and we are going to fight back."

The U.S. Justice Department is suing North Carolina over its new law requiring transgender people to use public bathrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates.

Texas Republicans have used the issue to delight conservatives, even though legislative action isn't likely until state lawmakers reconvene in January.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants the Fort Worth school district superintendent to resign over guidelines to accommodate transgender students.

Source: http://www.cbs7.com/content/news/Te...ht-Back-for-North-Carolina-Law-379385371.html

Please lock if old.

Edit: I'm honestly scared for my step sister who still has to go through high school. I hope the inevitable funding cuts don't impact her too much.

I'm terrified of Abbott now. At least I could call Bush and Perry crazy, but Abbott is just evil. You'd think a paraplegic guy would be more empathetic.

Edit 2: Houston school districts response

http://www.click2houston.com/news/houston-isd-responds-to-federal-bathroom-policy

 

[Sheroking]

Texas loves their losing battles.

 

[Princess Viola]

Keep fighting the fight you're going to lose.

 

[Slayven]

Why is where people shit such a battleground now? Seems like the right knows it is dying and just being petty as fuck now

 

[_Ryo_]

What a shitbag of a person.

Also Obama isn't making restrooms into a courtroom issue, it's your and your conservative's bigotry that is doing that.

 

[Mindlog]

I just don't understand this line in the sand moment. Is this South Park's fault?

 

[Marvie_3]

Stay losing, losers.

 

[EatinOlives]

I'm sure Texas was getting tired of all the press NC was getting. "Hey, WE'RE the original shitty backwards state and don't you forget it!"

 

[entremet]

I just don't understand this line in the sand moment.

This isn't new. Look at almost all major civil rights movements in the last 60 years.

 

[Azuran]

There's something creepy about 60-year old men caring so much what people do in a bathroom.

 

[Beartruck]

Greg Abbott is a backwards asshole, film at 11.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

I just don't understand this line in the sand moment. Is this South Park's fault?

Republicans have been doing a perpetual King Cnut impression on civil rights since the sixties.

 

[Frozenprince]

LOL yeah okay good luck passing that shit in any of the metro areas. Then again Abbott never was the brightest bulb in the box.

 

[minor effort]

Social conservatives never win in the long run. When will they learn?

 

[Princess Viola]

Social conservatives never win in the long run. When will they learn?

They never will since they're utterly convinced that they're correct and that, eventually, history will redeem them.

Plus, they have to keep fighting against the goddess liberals who want to do I dunno, 'evil' stuff like making people treat others like people.

 

[Seth Enosh]

LOL yeah okay good luck passing that shit in any of the metro areas. Then again Abbott never was the brightest bulb in the box.

Didn't Houston defeat the LGBT bathroom bill by a pretty big margin just a year ago? The metro areas might not all be that liberal about this. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ustons-gay-rights-ordinance-failed-bathrooms/

This whole bathroom panic thing seems a bit ridiculous to me but I wonder if Obama would have been better just leaving things as they were. Laws like HB2 seem a step back from the status quo and they're entirely reactionary (Charlotte bathroom/locker room ordinance led to HB2, and now the US wide edict is probably going to lead to a country wide legal fight over the meaning of "sex" in the civil rights act - a 1960s law that didn't have transgendered people in mind).

 

[Aurongel]

“Obama is turning bathrooms into courtroom issues.”

Fucking wat.

 

[Escape Goat]

I just don't understand this line in the sand moment. Is this South Park's fault?

Election year politics. Find an issue that fires up your base and put it on repeat.

 

[woodchuck]

Abbott is a huge douche. At least Dallas county where I'm from voted blue.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

Matt Bevin in KY has also said he will fight Emperor Obama's decree.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Didn't Houston defeat the LGBT bathroom bill by a pretty big margin just a year ago? The metro areas might not all be that liberal about this. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ustons-gay-rights-ordinance-failed-bathrooms/

This whole bathroom panic thing seems a bit ridiculous to me but I wonder if Obama would have been better just leaving things as they were. Laws like HB2 seem a step back from the status quo and they're entirely reactionary (Charlotte bathroom/locker room ordinance led to HB2, and now the US wide edict is probably going to lead to a country wide legal fight over the meaning of "sex" in the civil rights act - a 1960s law that didn't have transgendered people in mind).

If you discriminate against someone on the basis of their gender not matching their sex, that is discrimination based on sex. Simple as that.

 

[Eusis]

Didn't Houston defeat the LGBT bathroom bill by a pretty big margin just a year ago? The metro areas might not all be that liberal about this. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ustons-gay-rights-ordinance-failed-bathrooms/

This whole bathroom panic thing seems a bit ridiculous to me but I wonder if Obama would have been better just leaving things as they were. Laws like HB2 seem a step back from the status quo and they're entirely reactionary (Charlotte bathroom/locker room ordinance led to HB2, and now the US wide edict is probably going to lead to a country wide legal fight over the meaning of "sex" in the civil rights act - a 1960s law that didn't have transgendered people in mind).

So many trying to pass laws here kind of forced the handsome of the Feds. They could have probably done nothing but this would still keep going on, so I have to imagine putting the foot down may just accelerate it towards, hopefully, a positive end.

 

[Misha]

I just don't understand this line in the sand moment. Is this South Park's fault?

No. South Park only did a thing on it because it was something people have been complaining about for years. Specifically now though, Liberty council drafted up a bunch of bills to distribute to different states since they lost on same sex marriage

 

[Slayven]

Fucking wat.

They invoke Obama for everything bad

"Obama is the reason Mcdonald ran out of nuggets

"Obama is the reason there is rain on your wedding day"

"Obama caused global warning"

He is really their boogeyman

 

[Frozenprince]

They invoke Obama for everything bad

"Obama is the reason Mcdonald ran out of nuggets

"Obama is the reason there is rain on your wedding day"

"Obama caused global warning"

He is really their boogeyman

Man if I had known Obama was why I can't get a McRib I'd have voted for Romney.

 

[Servbot24]

My first assumption for these things is that the person in power doesn't actually care about the issue and is just pandering to his voter base.

 

[cr0w]

Abbott is a piece of garbage. Dude sued the guy whose tree fell on him and put him in a wheelchair, got millions, then went on to help author a bill that limited the amount of money plaintiffs can be awarded in personal injury lawsuits.

I'd be perfectly happy if someone just rolled him down a hill into an inaccessible location and left.

 

[The Technomancer]

This is the dumbest and most pettily hateful hill to die on.

 

[Mindlog]

No. South Park only did a thing on it because it was something people have been complaining about for years. Specifically now though, Liberty council drafted up a bunch of bills to distribute to different states since they lost on same sex marriage

That's what I was looking for. Much appreciated.

 

[Shiv47]

There's a recent book out called Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (Even When They Lose the Elections) that gets into why conservatives continually try to fight this kind of thing, and it boils down to this: conservatives repeatedly pick lost causes to rally around, because they're continually fighting for nostalgic representations of what America was or should be. It's been happening through the whole history of America, from Catholicism to Prohibition to the civil rights movement to gay marriage to this latest fight. They raised the alarm over gay marriage in recent years because most people didn't care, which meant that they'd already lost. And this latest fuckery over transgender bathroom use is just another example. Most people aren't bothered by it. The fight's already over, however much dipshits like Abbott want to struggle against it.

 

[Retro]

They never will since they're utterly convinced that they're correct and that, eventually, history will redeem them.

Now now, in 50 years or so, they'll say transgender rights were totally their idea, in the same way they always bring up Lincoln when it comes to civil rights (ignoring the fact that the party ideologies basically flipped in the 60s) and try to claim MLK as a Republican. Spoiler Alert: He identified as neither, but campaigned for Johnson and urged "every Negro and white person of goodwill to vote against Mr. Goldwater and to withdraw support from any Republican candidate that did not publicly disassociate himself from Senator Goldwater and his philosophy." He also thought Reagan's popularity was "induced by a war psychosis."

Same thing when Carly Fiorina claims the GOP is the "Party of Women's Suffrage;" it happened 100 years ago when the GOP was a completely different animal.

 

[Frozenprince]

This is the dumbest and most pettily hateful hill to die on.

They keep moving the hills farther back.

 

[Pantaghana]

Fascinating how a year ago nobody gave a shit (heh) where people took their shits.

But now a bunch of chucklefucks need to invent new boogeymen because letting gays marry hasn't ended the world as prophesied.

 

[Frozenprince]

Fascinating how a year ago nobody gave a shit (heh) where people took their shits.

But now a bunch of chucklefucks need to invent new boogeymen because letting gays marry hasn't ended the world as prophesied.

Which is fucking hysterical because it means guys like this

are now obligated to use the ladies room.

Seems like the boogeyman they invented kinda doesn't do what they wanted. Then again, they'd have to actually admit most children being abused are by family members. And that means, well, no more boogeymen.

 

[Escape Goat]

My first assumption for these things is that the person in power doesn't actually care about the issue and is just pandering to his voter base.

I think (hope) this is the case for most conservative lawmakers. The GOP has pandered to the lowest denominator and made them central to winning elections ever since Nixon. If you want to go anywhere or advance conservatism you have to start there.

 

[aliengmr]

Social conservatives never win in the long run. When will they learn?

They'll learn when the issue in question ceases its viability as a political issue.

The issue itself, like gay marriage, sustains itself by energizing people on both sides of it. It's not so much a case of true believers taking a stand as it's a way to energize people to vote for you and get your name out there. Both "political" sides benefit from wedge issues, regardless which side they are on.

Conservatives, especially after Bush, came to rely on these as their fiscal responsibility angle got blown out of the water. They kept injecting their "family values" base with all the bullshit that once the culture started to shift, they started to lose control.

Ultimately we'll have to see how this issue is handled in the election. My guess is it won't be used and may stay a "midterms" issue, but since Trump's positions change hourly and his supporters don't seem to care, who knows.

 

[Princess Viola]

Which is fucking hysterical because it means guys like this

are now obligated to use the ladies room.

As if these people would even acknowledge that transmen exist, since it invalidates their belief that all transgender people are perverted gays who want to dress as women so they can go into the ladies room and molest your daughter.

 

[ClosingADoor]

Patrick promised that lawmakers next year will pass legislation to “keep men out of ladies’ rooms.”

So no new laws needed, because they identify as women.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Which is fucking hysterical because it means guys like this

are now obligated to use the ladies room.

Seems like the boogeyman they invented kinda doesn't do what they wanted. Then again, they'd have to actually admit most children being abused are by family members. And that means, well, no more boogeymen.

I was talking exactly this yesterday. I don't know. Maybe these guys should help the cause and start heading into the woman's bathroom in these states? Could you imagine the freak outs, then waiting for security/the police and proving they're trans? Everyone would be floored LOL.

I'd love to see this start happening..

 

[Seth Enosh]

If you discriminate against someone on the basis of their gender not matching their sex, that is discrimination based on sex. Simple as that.

You can make that argument but it may not fly in the courts. Remember this is a 1960s law and if interpreted according to original intent would be unlikely to mean what you say.

The only major court ruling in favor of that interpretation used Chevron deference rather than say the CRA unambiguously means that - that type of deference would allow the interpretation to be changed by any future president, and even that decision was 2-1. There is still plenty of court precedent the other way, saying that transgender status is not protected under the CRA, e.g. Ulane vs Eastern Airlines - district decision that was overturned by the 9th circuit stating that transsexuals are not protected.

It will certainly be interesting to see how this new case proceeds through the system. NC and Texas are in different federal circuits I think, so we could even see a circuit split and a SCOTUS decision.

 

[RPGCrazied]

I hate my governor. He is a gun nut also. Wish he could get replaced.

 

[NeOak]

Didn't Houston defeat the LGBT bathroom bill by a pretty big margin just a year ago? The metro areas might not all be that liberal about this. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ustons-gay-rights-ordinance-failed-bathrooms/

This whole bathroom panic thing seems a bit ridiculous to me but I wonder if Obama would have been better just leaving things as they were. Laws like HB2 seem a step back from the status quo and they're entirely reactionary (Charlotte bathroom/locker room ordinance led to HB2, and now the US wide edict is probably going to lead to a country wide legal fight over the meaning of "sex" in the civil rights act - a 1960s law that didn't have transgendered people in mind).

One, Mayor Parker at the time passed the bill.

Two, it provoked the movement of the social conservatives en masse.

Three, said conservatives made a strong publicity campaign about kids being in danger in the bathrooms and pretty much implying that little girls would be raped by transsexuals in the bathrooms. Yes. They did.

Four, they attacked the mayor a lot because she is openly lesbian.

Five, the ones in favor of the bill really didn't do as much publicity and let the conservatives fill TV and radio with ads.

So no, the bill was defeated because the ones who opposed the bill moved to defeat it while the ones supporting it sat down and didn't do as much. It took a lot of effort by the opposition to defeat it however. Had the supporters spent that much money, it wouldn't have been defeated.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Are there any women who aren't insane online commenters who have asked politicians for all of this money and time to protect them in the bathroom? It's the example they keep bringing up, but I have no faces to attach to the movement.

 

[titiklabingapat]

Sweet, more companies will come back to California as a result.

 

[RPGCrazied]

Think its time for a Democrat governor to take over here. When is his term over?

 

[NeOak]

Think its time for a Democrat governor to take over here. When is his term over?

That ain't happening.

 

[Seth Enosh]

One, Mayor Parker at the time passed the bill.

Two, it provoked the movement of the social conservatives en masse.

Three, said conservatives made a strong publicity campaign about kids being in danger in the bathrooms and pretty much implying that little girls would be raped by transsexuals in the bathrooms. Yes. They did.

Four, they attacked the mayor a lot because she is openly lesbian.

Five, the ones in favor of the bill really didn't do as much publicity and let the conservatives fill TV and radio with ads.

So no, the bill was defeated because the ones who opposed the bill moved to defeat it while the ones supporting it sat down and didn't do as much. It took a lot of effort by the opposition to defeat it however. Had the supporters spent that much money, it wouldn't have been defeated.

A lot of good points made here, but are you sure about the money and turnout points? According to ballotpedia, spending in favor of the ordinance was 2 million $ vs 400,000 by the winners. Turnout for the election was also the highest since 2003 and 150,000 people voted against the ordinance. I'm an outsider but just wondering if more people might actually oppose the ordinance (based on bathroom panic) than you realized.

 

[Kthulhu]

Updated the OP with how school districts are responding.

That ain't happening.

Mabey if the share of Latino voters gets bigger, but we're a long way from that.

 

[Hollycat]

A lot of good points made here, but are you sure about the money and turnout points? According to ballotpedia, spending in favor of the ordinance was 2 million $ vs 400,000 by the winners. Turnout for the election was also the highest since 2003 and 150,000 people voted against the ordinance. I'm an outsider but just wondering if more people might actually oppose the ordinance (based on bathroom panic) than you realized.

they may not have had to spend much when this was airing on every channel constantly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7thOvSvC4E

id imagine most of the pro HERO money was spent prior to passing

 

[NeOak]

A lot of good points made here, but are you sure about the money and turnout points? According to ballotpedia, spending in favor of the ordinance was 2 million $ vs 400,000 by the winners. Turnout for the election was also the highest since 2003 and 150,000 people voted against the ordinance. I'm an outsider but just wondering if more people might actually oppose the ordinance (based on bathroom panic) than you realized.

Oh man, it was the daily bread and butter of the conservative radio shows here.

And no, $400,000 doesn't cover the amount of ads against it. So those numbers are wrong, especially since a lot of it was private money.

Maybe a few people went from supporting it to opposing it due to the implied rape in the bathrooms ads, true. But that was thanks to the fear campaign.