Seth Meyers explains Houston's anti-LGBT vote, debunks the transgender 'bathroom myth'


On Tuesday, voters in Houston shot down a city-wide anti-discrimination ordinance adopted by the City Council last year, apparently swayed by charges from opponents that it would allow creepy men to walk into women's restrooms. Seth Meyers took a closer look on Wednesday's Late Night, especially at the claim that anyone of any gender could have used any restroom. "The idea is known as the 'bathroom myth," he said, and "the law had nothing to do with that."
Meyers also ridiculed the idea that women's bathrooms are a great place to see "booty," as one opponent said, noting archly that the last place you'd want to see "booty" is in a restroom, because "that's when the booty is busy." But "more importantly, the idea that you could go into a bathroom and do anything other than use the toilet is already illegal in Houston," he pointed out, and has been since 1972. "Now, it would be wrong to paint Houston as an intolerant city — it's not fair," Meyers said, noting that the outgoing three-term mayor, Annise Parker, is openly gay. "So how could a city that elected a gay mayor vote against this law?" He didn't have a great answer, just a joke about falling asleep in church, but he did end with a warning to gay rights advocates — and cartoonists. Watch below. Peter Weber
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
The pros and cons of buying a new-build house
the explainer Repairs and maintenance will be minimal on a brand new build — but moving into an existing home can be easier upfront
-
Mexico’s forced disappearances
Under the Radar 130,000 people missing as 20-year war on drugs leaves ‘the country’s landscape ever more blood-soaked’
-
The Week contest: Racoon’s regrets
Puzzles and Quizzes
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
A long weekend in Zürich
The Week Recommends The vibrant Swiss city is far more than just a banking hub
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle