Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is the latest conservative leader to chime in on the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), which voters will consider at the ballot on Tuesday. HERO would create a wide swath of nondiscrimination protections, but Abbott joined opponents in spreading the myth that the protections for transgender people will somehow open the bathroom door to sexual predators.
Countering Hillary Clinton’s support for the measure, Abbott repeated the anti-HERO campaign’s mantra: “No men in women’s bathrooms.”
HOUSTON: Vote Texas values, not @HillaryClinton values. Vote NO on City of Houston Proposition 1. No men in women's bathrooms.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) November 2, 2015
ThinkProgress reached out to Abbott’s campaign to inquire which bathroom the governor believes transgender men should use, but did not receive a response.
Monica Roberts, a transgender woman in Houston working to pass the ordinance, told ThinkProgress that she is “sad that my governor and his party are proudly standing up for discrimination and oppression as usual.”
The Campaign for Houston, the coalition trying to defeat HERO, praised Abbott for his support.
