From restrooms to unity: Texas Republicans grapple with hot issues

Source: Star Telegram

DALLAS
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed Thursday — before a room full of some of the state’s most devout Republicans — to help North Carolina fight policies that give transgender people the ability to use the restroom of their choice.

The question of who can go into which public restroom, based on the gender a person identifies with now or the one they were born with, became national news after North Carolina officials passed a law requiring transgendered people to use the restroom that corresponds with the sex on their birth certificate.

The issue, which already has come up in a handful of Texas cities, erupted in Fort Worth this week when Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for Fort Worth Superintendent Ken Scribner’s resignation over guidelines outlining bathroom use, sparking protests on both sides of the issue.

Abbott publicly waded in on the issue for the first time Thursday, telling thousands of delegates gathered at the Republican Party of Texas state convention that “Obama is turning bathrooms into courtroom issues.”

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