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.
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