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TexasTowelie

(111,313 posts)
Sun Jul 30, 2017, 05:10 AM Jul 2017

Former Republican Railroad Commissioner: Bathroom Bill Harms Teens And Republicans

By all accounts, Michael Williams has been a dedicated member of the Republican party of Texas. He was the general counsel for the GOP party of Texas in 1994, chairman of the platform committee in 1998, and chairman of the state convention in 2000, and he was a featured speaker at the Republican National Conventions of 2004 and 2008. He was the first African-American to hold a statewide elective administrative office, serving as railroad commissioner from 1999 to 2011. Governor Rick Perry appointed Williams as the Texas education commissioner in 2012, a post he held until the end of 2015. Earlier this week, Williams tweeted: “{Thirty-five} years ago when I ‘came out’ as a Republican it never crossed my mind my party would some day worry about what bathrooms people used.”

Williams was referencing Senate Bill 3, which is primarily aimed at controlling access to bathrooms in public schools, colleges, and publicly owned buildings. It would restrict people to using the bathroom that matches the sex on their birth certificate.

The tweet prompted me to call Williams, and he discussed with me his belief the party and its politicians have lost a connection to its Republican roots. “Politicians, and I was one, and political parties are like milk. They do curdle and spoil over time.”

Read more: http://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/former-republican-railroad-commissioner-bathroom-bill-harms-teens-republicans/

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