Houston Equal Rights Essay

"Shocking Report Reveals How Often Trans People Attack You in Bathrooms." Mic. Mic Network Inc., 02 Apr. 2015. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.

What could be more important than the equality of rights for all American citizens? Women have tried without success for 80 years to be acknowledged as equals in our Constitution through an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Currently there is nothing in the United States Constitution that guarantees a woman the same rights as a man. The only equality women have with men is the right to vote. In order to protect women’s rights on the same level as men, I am in favor of an Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution today.

The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) was intended to protect an extremely broad range of groups, barring discrimination against individuals based on “sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, marital status, military status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, or pregnancy.” In the brief period last year when HERO was in effect—before the Texas Supreme Court intervened and forced the measure to be put on the ballot—five of the complaints filed under the ordinance were about racial discrimination, five were about LGBT discrimination, and one was about gender

In order to be on the same page as other major cities across the United States, motions were made over a year ago in Houston to pass an equal rights, anti-discrimination ordinance known as the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO). At last a decision was made, and on November 3rd, 2015, HERO was struck down by 61 percent of the voters by referendum (Fernandez). The premise of the anti-discrimination ordinance is similar to those of other cities across the nation; to prevent discrimination on the bases of 15 different classes including race, age, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Houston’s mayor Annise Parker, who identifies as gay herself, was a strong supporter of the proposition for equal rights, and as all supporters in the Houston area agreed, it would put Houston on the map of inclusive and tolerant cities (Fernandez). On the other side of the argument is the conservative population of Houston. With the majority of political opinion in the Houston area being that of highly conservative leaning, HERO proved to be a controversial ordinance for many of these individuals. In an effort to increase support for opposing HERO, conservative politicians in the Houston area therefore took advantage of conservative ideals to promote a counter-position to the anti-discrimination laws (Ura).

Kansas passed a bill on Wednesday, March 16, 2016 that denies transgender students from using the restroom, as well as other facilities retaining to gender “when they are in various states of undress” (Committee on Federal and State Affairs, page 1; sec. 2; subparagraph b; lines 8-12), based on their preferred gender and forces them to use the restroom based on their birth sex. This bill was passed by the Committee on Federal and State Affairs in order to protect the privacy of students and to prevent “potential embarrassment, shame and psychological injury to students” (Committee on Federal and State Affairs, page 1; sec. 2; subparagraph f; lines 27-29). This bill also allows for students to sue a transgender student for two-thousand five hundred dollars if they are found in the “wrong” restroom. Forcing the transgender students in Kansas to use the restroom based on biology is wrong because forcing someone to disregard a personal preference to accommodate another is inhumane and has potentially deadly effects.

Although the ordinance protects several classes of people within five separate categories, the ordinance became the policy in favor of men in women’s bathrooms. With a lot of attention on transgender people within the last year alone, the media was able to manipulate public perception by focusing on one aspect of the ordinance. Many Houstonians, still weary of the LGBTQ community and ill-informed, were fully against the ordinance, claiming to defend their women and children against predators. Voters believed the ordinance created an open door for sex crime to increase in the city. Consequently, the ordinance failed to pass with a 60% opposing vote. The ordinance for equality should have passed, however, Houstonians focused only on their false perceptions and myths of sexual predators, such as strangers and queers.

The struggle for equal rights has been an ongoing issue in the United States. For most of the twentieth century Americans worked toward equality. Through demonstrations, protests, riots, and parades citizens have made demands and voiced their concerns for equal rights. For the first time minority groups were banding together to achieve the American dream of liberty and justice for all. Whether it was equality for women, politics, minorities, or the economy the battle was usually well worth the outcome. I have chosen articles that discuss some of the struggles, voyages, and triumphs that have occurred. The people discussed in the following articles represent only a portion of those who suffered.

Sec. 3 Equal Rights is a civil liberty. The third section of the Texas Constitution is based on equal protection against government discrimination among men (sex, race, color, creed or national origin). In this case the government cannot take away citizens’ rights. The first amendment of the Bills of Rights gives people the right to practice any religion they chose to and government is prohibit to interfere in a person’s beliefs. In past court cases that freedom of religion was addressed dealing with the exclusion of prayers in public schools, the prohibition of polygamy, and the limitation of the use of drugs or snakes in religious rituals.

Some people may be confused as to why gender neutral bathrooms are a controversy. This controversy stems from the trans* rights movement’s desire for safety and acceptance. Trans*, short for transgender, is an umbrella term that is used to describe people who identify as a gender they were not assigned at birth, this includes female to male, male to female, agender, and non-binary individuals while cisgender, cis for short, is used to describe someone who identifies with the gender they were assigned at birth. Some trans* individuals many pass as their identified gender and face harassment in the restroom if they are outed as trans*, likewise some trans* individuals do not pass or have not

The bill clearly states in Chapter 17, article 1, sec. 17-1, “It is the policy of the city that all of its residents and persons subject to its jurisdiction shall not be subject to discrimination based on an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, marital status, military status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity or pregnancy.” Fighting for equal rights on the terms of city employment and city services, contracts "between the city and any person for the provision of any works, goods, or services"(Houston), public accommodation, private employment, and fair housing. This bill coming into play will change the lives of many Houstonians, such as my own uncle who is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and my disabled grandmother when it comes to various accounts of discrimination that they could face. The bill does not have much to say about transgender rights on sharing bathrooms besides implying the notion of non-discriminative utilities in Article IV sec. 17-51. H.E.R.O is a proposition that has been put forth in simple terms as a way to gain equal rights across the board, as well as, making Houston an environment free of discrimination and

These kind of people want to and will try to make someone’s life as hard as possible simply because they see this subject differently. The simple, daily task of using the bathroom is a breeze for any typical person. Unfortunately, this task comes across as a intimidating adversary to a trans person simply because one can be conflicted with which restroom to use. For many trans people, entering a gender-specific bathroom can be a source of stress and anxiety, because using the restroom can mean very real health and safety concerns. Harassment of trans people in and around gender-specific bathrooms can range from denial of use to police intervention to verbal threats and physical assault.

“GLSEN research shows that nearly two thirds of transgender students avoid school bathrooms because of feeling unsafe or uncomfortable. They risk verbal and physical harassment, no matter which of the two, sex-segregated bathrooms they enter.” as the quote here

In the case of transgender bathrooms in school I believe it’s not an issue of good or bad for the schools, but does it make the children uncomfortably. Throughout the entire video not one child came out and said that they did not have a problem nor did any transgender people raise concerns. Therefore it seems that the problem is not with the school but with society outside of the school. It’s clear this law is focus on preserving a more conservative view in schools. Many people who argue against this law state how fearful they are about rape, homosexuality, and Xenophobia. This personal fear should have no effect on the right someone has to use what restrooms he or she feels comfortable in.

Pictures of transgender males in a female bathroom are appearing on the internet. Also, pictures of transgender females in a male bathroom. Get ready to start seeing what looks like a male in the female bathroom and vice versa. How is anybody supposed to know who is transgender and who is in the bathroom to prey on the opposite sex? Police do not have any guidelines for checking if your genitals match your birth certificate. In North Carolina, if you have sex reassignment surgery, then you can have your birth certificate amended. Nevertheless, if you have the surgery and are from a state that does not allow birth certificate amendments, then you still must utilize the

"This type of legal marriage must be forbidden because natural instinct revolts it as wrong"