Patrick, a conservative crusader and talk-radio host, got Abbott to call a special session this summer of the Texas Legislature — an emergency! — largely for the purpose of passing a “bathroom bill” to restrict the use of public restrooms by transgender people.
It was opportunistic and cynical, a solution in search of a problem. Proponents of the “Privacy Act” raised bogus fears about men exposing themselves to, and assaulting, women and girls in showers and toilets. Texans, Patrick proclaimed, “don’t want their children showering together, boys and girls in the 10th grade … and women want to be protected.