Survey Appears to Underscore Impact of Transgender Bathroom Myth
Above: Click on the interactive graph to see poll results breakdown by race
Just five months after voters repealed the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) by a margin of 61-39 percent, a new poll shows that 73 percent of the city’s residents say it’s “very important” to pass such a law, while another 16 percent say it’s “somewhat important.”Â
The 35th annual Houston Area Survey, from Rice University’s Kinder Institute, also found that 74 percent of Black residents, who voted overwhelmingly against the ordinance Nov. 4, believe it is “very important” for the city to pass a nondiscrimination law.Â
The poll results seem to underscore the impact of the transgender bathroom myth on the outcome of the vote. Opponents of HERO built their entire campaign around the false, fear-mongering assertion that the ordinance would allow sexual predators to enter women’s restrooms and prey on victims. But the pro-HERO campaign failed to effectively counter this lie, which was punctuated by a disgusting TV ad featuring a cisgender man following a little girl into a bathroom stall.Â
“The vote itself was about a bathroom ordinance,†said Kinder Institute Founding Director Stephen Klineberg, “not an equal rights or anti-discrimination ordinance, and it’s a reminder of how much it matters how these propositions get framed in the political process.†Â
Richard Carlbon, who managed the pro-HERO campaign, acknowledged in an interview with the Kinder Insitute that he and other supporters of the ordinance underestimated the power of the trans bathroom myth.Â
“When you looked at the impact of the opposition’s message,†Carlbom said, “it was pretty devastating.â€
The Kinder Institute poll found that support for an equal rights ordinance is strongest among Hispanic residents, with 77 percent saying it’s “very important,” and weakest among whites, with just 52 percent saying it’s “very important.”Â
The poll also found strong support for gay adoption — 56 percent, up from just 17 percent when the question was first asked in 1991.Â
“HERO may have been defeated, but our survey shows strong and increasing support for gay rights,†Klineberg said. Â
Former Mayor Annise Parker, who authored HERO, told the Kinder Institute she believes some of the opposition to the ordinance was based on personal animosity against her.Â
“We are home to some of the largest mega-churches in America,†she said, adding that as the first openly gay mayor of Houston she’s faced opposition from “a really virulent group of homophobes†throughout her tenure. “They’ve been stirring that pot for a long time,†she said. The equal rights ordinance was confirmation of their worst fears. “They were like, ‘Here’s proof. We told you she had this secret gay agenda.’â€
Current Mayor Sylvester Turner said through a spokeswoman that despite the poll, he has no immediate plans to revive HERO. Supporters of the ordinance have said they eventually plan to circulate a petition to get it back on the ballot.Â
The poll was conducted between Jan. 25 and March 3, and included more than 1,200 respondents from three counties. Now in its 35th year, the Kinder Houston Area Survey is the nation’s longest-running study of any metropolitan area’s economy, population, life experiences, beliefs and attitudes.Â
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