Heartfelt reflection
Safety and rights
Regarding “Senate panel approves transgender bathroom bill” (Page A4, Thursday), transgender people are just people. In the state of Texas, where civil liberties are fiercely protected, transgender people should have the civil rights to simply be able to go to the bathroom.
My oldest, Alex, recently came out as transgender. After years of having a daughter, we now have a son. Alex is amazing! He graduated near the top of one of our excellent Texas public high schools, was a National Merit scholar and got a free-ride academic scholarship. He is working on a triple major in molecular and cellular biology, microbiology and the classics. Alex plans to pursue a PhD with a focus on human diseases. Alex is kind and funny, and Texas will brag about him when he wins a Nobel Prize.
Senate Bill 6 is not what Texas stands for. Texas is independent and it protects its people and their civil liberties. This law damages our reputation and will cost us in revenues if we become associated with its discriminatory policy.
I have heard that we need this bill to “keep people safe.” As outlined in SB 6 itself we already have a number of laws that cover all the dangerous crimes that can be committed inside a bathroom or out. This “keep our people safe” argument smacks of past dangerous rhetoric in American history. Any law that targets one group to keep the masses safe is based on the assumption that that minority group is more deviant. Such laws are legalized prejudice.
Laws should punish those who have committed a crime, period. Everyone can be frightened during those few moments when you let your child out of your sight, say to go into a bathroom. I understand that, but fear is not the reason to abandon your values as a people. It is not the reason to vote for something legislatively embarrassing, economically costly and unenforceable. This bill breeds hate instead of creating conversations.
We must work to keep bathrooms safe for everyone. Meanwhile, my child Alex will continue his studies in microbiology to keep humanity safe from disease.
Lisa Morano, Pearland