The ACLU of Texas has released a new PSA directed by Richard Linklater slamming the Texas Privacy Act.
The bill, Senate Bill 6, would block transgender individuals from using the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity, which the ad calls discrimination.
As part of the “I Pee With LGBT” campaign, the ad argues against the assertion that the law would improve privacy and safety. “This isn’t a privacy issue. It’s a discrimination issue,” the ad says.
“Disguised as a safety issue, the Texas Privacy Act, also known as SB6, seeks to ban transgender individuals from using the bathroom of the gender with which they identify,” the video’s description reads. “Passing the bill would harm Texas business to the tune of billions of dollars. Just ask North Carolina.”
“A bathroom is not where women and children are at risk. Where our public bathrooms are concerned, transgender people are the real targets: 70 percent of transgender men and women report having been verbally or physically attacked while using a restroom.”
“Lt. Gov. Patrick and other state lawmakers who support S.B. 6 portray the bill as a ‘common sense’ protection of ‘common decency’,” Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement to the San Antonio Current. “There’s nothing decent about a proposed law that would exclude transgender people from public spaces or bar them from participating in public life. With this campaign we hope to raise awareness on the issue and ensure that Texas doesn’t consign our transgender brothers and sisters to second-class status under the law.”
Born in Houston, Texas, Linklater moved to Austin after dropping out of college (following a stint working on an oil rig). Many of his famous films — including “Boyhood,” “Dazed and Confused,” and “Everybody Wants Some!!” — are based in the Lone Star state, and despite their success, he refuses to move to Hollywood.