Mesquite Fast Tracks Dangerous Policy, Sides with Obama’s Bathroom Agenda
Late last night, the City of Mesquite approved, by a vote of 5 -2 (full details below), a sweeping new policy that opens up bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms to the opposite sex on city property such as City Hall, libraries, city swimming pools and recreation centers. Citizens were outraged at the meeting as over one hundred people packed the room with a clear majority of those present against the new bathroom policy. Several Mesquite residents testified against the policy and asked for a delay of this dangerous proposal as it was clear the public was unaware in advance that such a vote would take place on Monday. Two of the Council members supported allowing for more time for the public to be informed and thoughtful discussion of this significant change in law, but the Mayor and other Council Members refused and insisted on a vote on Monday.
The new policy added new special protected classifications based on ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity,’ which are not in accordance with Texas law. The new city policy states that the “policy extends to all terms, conditions, and privileges of employment including, without limitation, fringe benefits…classification…and all other aspects of employment,” which includes the use of restrooms, showers, and locker rooms on all city property by employees at locations where the general public, including women and children, will also be using the same facilities. Although the City initially said that the U. S. Supreme Court cases on same-sex ‘marriage’ (Windsor and Obergefell ) required them to make this change for transgender/gender identity issues, during the public meeting a city representative conceded that federal law does not require adding “gender identity” protection into law, including bathrooms. The City of Houston, Fort Worth I.S.D. and the Obama Administration have recently started public fights over trying to add the words “gender identity” and other related words to create new classifications in law that don’t currently exist at the Federal level or in Texas. Click here to view a resource on these dangerous policies.
Jonathan Saenz, President and Attorney of Texas Values, who attended the City Council meeting and testified against the dangerous new policy, released the following statement: “The Mesquite City Council placed politics and political correctness above public safety and common sense. Any law giving special protections based on ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation” is going to have serious safety, privacy, and religious freedom concerns and those concerns were repeatedly expressed by Mesquite citizens tonight. Despite the Councils’ desperate attempts to avoid the bathroom issue, it was clear from testimony from both sides that the issue of safety in bathrooms is at the center of this policy. In hastily approving this policy, the Mesquite City Council has sided with President Obama’s radical bathroom agenda over the safety of its own citizens.”
Please TAKE ACTION immediately:
- The following 5 members VOTED FOR the dangerous policy. Please immediately email and call each member and respectfully express your concerns. Even if you don’t live in Mesquite, polices like this set a dangerous precedent for the rest of the state and they need to hear from you!
Stan Pickett, Mayor: 972-216-6400, 972-800-6296; spickett@cityofmesquite.com
Bill Porter, Place 1: 972-882-5487; bporter@cityofmesquite.com
Jeff Casper, Place 2: 214-577-2018; jcasper@cityofmesquite.com
Greg Noschese, Mayor Pro Tem, Place 5: 214-616-8538; gnoschese@cityofmesquite.com
Dennis Tarpley, Place 6: 972-613-1002; dtarpley@cityofmesquite.com. - The following 2 members VOTED AGAINST the dangerous policy. Please immediately email and call each member and thank them for standing up for saftey, privacy, and common sense values.
Bruce Archer, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem, Place 3: 972-834-7099; barcher@cityofmesquite.com
Dan Aleman, Place 4: 972-754-6204; daleman@cityofmesquite.com - Please share this information with your family and friends in Mesquite