Bathroom politics
Bathroom politics
As a 2008 graduate of Fort Worth district schools, I’ve been heartened to hear about Superintendent Kent Scribner’s support of the district’s transgender students.
When a community is marginalized, bullied and demonized, it needs accomplices for the sake of justice, not further marginalization, bullying and demonization.
In 2015 alone, at least 23 transgender women of color were murdered, making theirs one of our society’s most vulnerable communities.
Instead of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick engaging in transphobic political posturing before a school board meeting, he should be putting his full weight behind efforts to end the erasure and brutalization of Texas’ transgender citizens.
Instead of fearmongering, Patrick would do well to sit down and talk to an actual transgender person, hearing their perspective and learning that being transgender is not a threat to society, but being transphobic is.
I hope the superintendent and his staff will continue to ensure that Fort Worth’s transgender, cisgender, straight, gay, bisexual, lesbian and other students will be protected, celebrated and afforded learning environments that enable their flourishing.
The Rev. Broderick Greer, Memphis
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is most welcome here.
He took time from his busy schedule to come to Fort Worth in defense of those whose rights are being ignored: heterosexual students and their parents.
The Editorial Board’s claim that Patrick’s speech here was purely a political move overlooked the fact that the school board is elected, making the board members politicians by definition.
They are pushing their own political agenda in continuing this policy and allowing the new guidelines, abusing their power by not soliciting public input, then choosing to ignore the majority of the population.
You cannot afford special favors to a minority group while simultaneously placing the larger population at risk. When my children are on Fort Worth school district property, the district is wholly responsible for their safety.
The new guidelines reduce safety for all involved and are a violation of trust of the highest degree.
Maybe the superintendent can refuse to resign, but we the public can fire the board.
Michael Hustedde,
Fort Worth
My husband uses a wheelchair and has to have help going to the bathroom.
We are limited as to where we can go as I cannot go into the men’s restrooms and he cannot go into the women’s.
The family restrooms are perfect, but there are very few of those. The ideal solution would be to require all public buildings to have family restrooms.
I don’t care if they’re called unisex, family or single-handicap, but they could be used by all three.
This would be a great help to all the spouses with handicapped husbands or wives, and it would solve the privacy issue.
Brenda Gaston,
Mansfield
It used to be said that the most dangerous place in the world was between Sen. Phil Gramm and a TV camera.
After watching the 5 p.m. news on May 10, it looks like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has stolen the spotlight!
Please get back to Austin and get to work on something else!
Lee S. Anderson,
Fort Worth
Reconfigure restrooms into individual stalls, with locking doors.
Don’t have all that space — just a commode and maybe a basin.
All go there, do their business and leave.
Miguel Solis, Fort Worth
This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Bathroom politics."