Last weekend, LGBTQ activist and transgender woman Ashley Smith struck up a conversation with Texas Governor Greg Abbott before posing for a picture with him. At the time, he likely thought she was an adoring supporter. In reality, she is anything but, as the politician worked hard to revive S.B. 6 — or the controversial “bathroom bill” — which seeks to force transgender people to use public restrooms and locker rooms that match the sex listed on their birth certificates. As the Washington Post reports, that activist’s goal was to show that if the Governor himself couldn’t recognize a transgender woman, how would the so-called “potty police?”
In the caption section of the image Smith uploaded to Twitter, she wrote: “How will the Potty Police know I’m transgender if the Governor doesn’t?” Unsurprisingly, her ingenious way of protesting the legislation has gone viral.
In states that have already passed a bathroom bill, specifically North Carolina, an enormous amount of money has been lost as people refuse to work with those who support discrimination. For similar reasons, S.B. 6 initially failed to pass during Texas’s regular legislative session. Abbott revived it, however, when he ordered a special 30-day legislative session to debate the bill.
After reporters contacted Smith, she said:
“I did not think shouting would work, or that I would be heard and was more interested in getting the photograph and not getting thrown out. Once I had the photo, I was eager to get on social media just because I wanted to make a point.”
If an individual has successfully transitioned to their preferred sex, it can be nearly impossible to determine their “gender.” This is the point Smith — and other activists with her LGBT rights group, Indivisible San Antonio — seeks to make.
“We’re about 1-in-300 people, we’re all over the place, we’re your friends and your neighbors,” Smith explained. “Some of us are not immediately obvious as trans. And the idea that you are going to be able to enforce a bathroom bill, I mean the enforceability is just not there.”
As Distractify reports, transgender people have been using the bathroom without incident long before U.S. citizens were even informed about what transgender meant. Surely, there are better ways the government can spend money that doesn’t involve discriminating against people who just want to feel better in their own skin.
What are your thoughts? Please comment below and share this news!
