S.A. transgender supporters blast WOAI town hall

WOAI anchorman Randy Beamer moderated the “Your Voice,Your Future” Town Hall on the "bathroom bill" Thursday at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. WOAI anchorman Randy Beamer moderated the “Your Voice,Your Future” Town Hall on the "bathroom bill" Thursday at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. Photo: Screen Grab Photo: Screen Grab Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close S.A. transgender supporters blast WOAI town hall 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

San Antonio transgender activist Lauryn Farris blasted WOAI-TV’s Thursday night town hall special on Texas’ controversial “bathroom bill” as unbalanced and lacking satisfactory representation of the trans community.

“It was a pep rally for those in favor of SB6,” Farris, the Alamo Region coordinator for the Transgender Education Network of Texas, said Friday.

Farris, who attended the WOAI forum held in the Tobin Performing Arts Center Thursday evening, said she was particularly irked over the omission of a young transgender voice — or a parent of a trans student — as trans children and teens attending public schools would be among those most harmed by the bill.

Fifteen minutes into the event, Farris and a group of other SB6 opponents walked out, chanting “trans rights are human rights.”

Senate Bill 6 states transgender individuals must use public bathrooms that correspond to the gender on their birth certificates rather than their gender identities. Trans students in public schools and universities also would have to adhere to the bill, which recently advanced to the Texas Senate in Austin.

Opponents say it’s discriminatory, but those in favor of the bill defend it as a way to keep women safe by keeping men out of the ladies’ room.

The “Your Voice,Your Future” event was moderated by WOAI anchorman Randy Beamer. The first half-hour aired live from 6:30 to 7 p.m. on WOAI. The entire hour, which concluded at 7:30 p.m., could be accessed online on WOAI’s website.

GLAAD, the media-monitoring organization which represents gay, bisexual and transgender people, followed up the walkout with a news release Friday. It also charged WOAI with presenting an unbalanced discussion, emphasizing the panel’s failure to include a trans student voice.

“By failing to provide equal representation in the debate on Senate Bill 6 — a measure that would openly discriminate against transgender Texans — WOAI and the Sinclair Broadcasting Group are blatantly ignoring the basic journalistic responsibility of fairness,” Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD, stated in the release.

Amanda Emery, executive producer of news at WOAI and KABB, and Blaise Labbe, director of news for WOAI and KABB, countered that they did reach out to many in the trans community, including parents, but were unsuccessful in finding more to participate.

Besides, Emery said the event was designed to be about all aspects of SB6, not just a discussion about transgender youth. “The economic impact, the religious impact, the psychological impact on both sides, and the transgender (community) was obviously part of that discussion as well,” she said.

The final five-person panel included both proponents and opponents of the legislation. Those against the bill included Ramiro Cavazos, president of San Antonio’s Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Shaneka Calloway, a local therapist who often works with the LGBTQ community. On the pro side of SB 6 was Mike Knuffke of the San Antonio Family Association and Weston Martinez, a Republican activist.

The lone transgender voice was Kolby Balcom, a Navy veteran.

The back-and-forth among the speakers often became heated, and, by the end of the hour, it was clear that neither side had found much common ground.

Exasperated by the repeated assertion that the bill was designed to keep men out of women’s restrooms, Balcom suggested what was really needed was a better understanding of trans people.

“A transgender woman is not a man. You don’t know who you’re talking about,” Balcom said. “We shouldn’t have a town hall; we should have a gender discussion 101.”

jjakle@express-news.net