So we’re having this conversation again.
Nearly 18 months after McKinney printed North Carolina’s (ultimately repealed) anti-transgender “bathroom bill” on toilet paper, lawmakers have proposed a nearly identical bill, and another ad agency has come up with a pro-bono campaign to oppose it.
In this case, the state is Texas and the agency is GSD&M, which has a new angle on the subject. To sum it all up, if you’re going to insist that transgender people use the restrooms associated with their birth sex, then why not just have everyone carry around personal items complete with birth certificates and easy-to-identify colors making sure there’s no doubt about it all?
There’s the phone case above plus a backpack and lunchbox version.
The agency has launched a paid social media campaign under the “Lifestyle Products for a Bathroom Bill World,” which will run for the next few days on Facebook leading up to the ultimate vote in the Texas senate. It all leads back to a page helping voters contact their representatives.
From agency CEO Duff Stewart:
Taxpayer dollars should be spent solving the real problems that face our state, from infrastructure to education, child protective services and more. We have an imperative to support basic human rights and legislation that limits the freedoms of our transgender community is nothing more than a solution in search of a problem.
I’m not worried about the people who love. I’m worried about the people who hate. GSD&M will always stand up for equality, and protect and support the community we’ve called home for 46 years.
Here’s an earlier video that launched in February, when the bill first came to life. GSD&M also worked on this one.
For necessary context: the Texas bill is essentially the same as the N.C. one in that it would require transgender people to use the public restrooms assigned to their birth gender, thereby nullifying all local anti-discrimination laws and subjecting them to potential charges.
The bill is all but certain to fail, which is probably because it was all about political posturing in the first place as the state’s governor and various representatives used it to pander to certain elements of their base.
The Dallas Stars and the NHL came out against it, as did Republican House Speaker Joe Straus, who compared the issue to “walk[ing] headfirst into a giant cactus.”
But look who else is running paid ads: an advocacy group claiming to represent Texas GOP primary voters.
Everything is politics now.