Zack Ford at Think Progress on the truth about HERO:
On Tuesday, Houston voters will weigh in on Proposition 1, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO). In the past week, HERO has won support from some prominent leaders, companies, and celebrities, while its opponents have continued to spread fear about what they call the “bathroom ordinance.”HERO would create a broad swath of nondiscrimination protections for the city of Houston, including protections based on race, religion, sex, military status, pregnancy, genetic information, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Its opponents have zeroed in on the protections for transgender people, claiming that they will somehow protect “men” who wish to prey on women and children in public restrooms.
By consistently putting out the message that predators will invade women's restrooms (even after the claim has been repeatedly refuted by city officials, professionals who work with sexual abuse victims, and others), opponents of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) have closed the polling gap and some experts have predicted a win for them in Tuesday's referendum.Zack Ford at Think Progress on debunking the anti-HERO's transphobic fearmongering:
HERO would create sweeping nondiscrimination protections for the city, which, unlike most cities across the country, has no such law protecting any class. And though it protects multiple identity factors, including religion, race, military status, disability, and pregnancy, opponents of the bill have focused on a very narrow aspect of its sexual orientation and gender identity protections — specifically, demonizing transgender women as sexual predators.Free Press Houston on #HERO:Opponents of HERO, identifying themselves as the “Campaign for Houston,” have blanketed the city with billboards, radio ads, television ads, and other forms of messaging, all of which focus on the singular message: “No men in women’s bathrooms!” The “men” refers to a distorted understanding of transgender women, individuals who were assigned male at birth but who have the inherent gender identity of a woman and would find protection from discrimination for that identity under HERO.
One ad misleadingly claims, “Any man at any time could enter a women’s bathroom simply by claiming to be a woman that day.” The campaign has also referenced “gender-confused men,” whose use of women’s facilities is, as one ad described it, “filthy, disgusting, and unsafe.”
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Allowing transgender people to use the restrooms that match their identities does not lead to sexual assault. Plenty of other cities — even in Texas — have approved the protections and the supposed consequences have not occurred. Moreover, how opponents of HERO portray sexual assault isn’t even accurate. Cassandra Thomas, a national leader on sexual violence research and advocacy who works with the Houston Area’s Women Center, explains that sexual assault is overwhelmingly carried out by people the victim knows, not by strangers pretending to be transgender in bathrooms.
The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance does not make it legal to harm someone in a bathroom. It does not protect sexual predators, it does not allow men to freely use women’s bathrooms or locker rooms, and it does not let rapists off the hook.Some key endorsers of Prop 1 that are calling for HERO to be kept in as law include Houston Unites, Michael Sam, Hillary, President Obama, and Biden, Mat Bomer, Jim Parsons, Sally Field, Bernie Sanders, and outgoing Houston Mayor Annise Parker.The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance is not a “bathroom ordinance.”There is literally nothing in the ordinance language that says anything about bathrooms.
Additionally, there is a 1972 Houston law that specifically states, “It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly and intentionally enter any public restroom designated for the exclusive use of the sex opposite to such person’s sex without the permission of the owner, tenant, manager, lessee or other person in charge of the premises, in a manner calculated to cause a disturbance.”
That means it’s illegal to go into a bathroom with the intent to harm someone. And, last time we checked, rapists and abusers are going to behave as you would expect them to behave–without regard for the law, with or without an equal rights ordinance.
Some key opponents of Prop 1 that are calling for HERO's repeal include Campaign For Houston, No Unequal Rights, Bob McNair, Rafael Cruz, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Steve and Becky Riggle, and Lance Berkman.
The polls have shown a very close battle, with the pro-HERO side slightly ahead in polling.If you live in Houston and support HERO or undecided about supporting HERO, please vote YES to keep it in as law in H-Town tomorrow!
Hashtags: #HERO, #YesOn1HOU, #YesOnProp1, #KeepHERO, #BeyBeAHERO