Toilet Politics
Team Member Name: Sabre Bunn-Mathews
Publication: NC Policy Watch
Date: 11/30/2015
Cartoonist: John Cole, U.S.
Title of cartoon: Toilet Politics
Cartoon # 5
What action is taking place in the cartoon?
What is the context?
In this cartoon a man meant to be North Carolina
Governor Pat McCrory is bent over drawing on
the wall of a North Carolina bathroom stall, “NO
TRANSGENDER WEIRDOS in N.C. PUBLIC RESTROOMS” (Cole, 2015). The Governors last name
is displayed on the backside of the bent over gentleman as a representation of McCrory himself.
This cartoon comes after the Charlotte City Council
voted to update their city ordinance allowing in dividuals to choose the public bathroom corresponding to their sexual identity (Fox News, 2016).
Prior to the change, McCrory issued a statement in
an email; changing the policy on restrooms could
“create major public safety issues” (McCrory, 2016).
What “reality” is constructed/framed about
your issue?
One month after the Charlotte City ordinance was
passed; McCrory signed and passed a bill that took
away the right to cities and counties from passing
their own anti-discrimination rules (Robertson &
Dalesio, 2016). Artist John Cole is using a public
bathroom and a man who represents Governor McCrory writing on the bathroom stall to symbolize
the war on discrimination that transgender minorities are faced with. “The General Assembly is on
the wrong side of progress. It is on the wrong side
of history” (Roberts, 2016). That statement, made
by Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts could not ring
more true as America is changing. Equal rights are
changing, and becoming bolder as a historical shift
is underway to give each living human being the
same rights as their neighbor. “All men are created
equal. No matter how hard they try, they can never
erase those words. That is what America is about.”
Harvey Milk, The Harvey Milk Interviews: In His
Own Words.
Tone of the cartoon:
Positive framing of the issue
Framing is supportive of supporters
Framing is opposed to opponents
Bibliography:
Cole, J. (2015, December 1). Local NC -- McCrory's toilet [Cartoon]. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from http://www.caglecartoons.
com/viewimage.asp?ID={F142E949-71F7-499A-BDDE-0E2D461DDB98}
Cole, J. (2015, November 30). Toilet Politics [Cartoon]. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from http://www.ncpolicywatch.
com/2015/11/30/toilet-politics/
Fox News. (n.d.). Charlotte City Council approves transgender bathroom ordinance over governor's protest. Retrieved March
28, 2016, from http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/02/23/charlotte-city-council-approves-transgender-bathroom-ordinance-over-governors-protest.html
Robertson, G., & Dalesio, E. (2016, March 24). Pat McCrory Signs Law Angering LGBT Community. Retrieved March 28, 2016,
from http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-03-24/north-carolina-reins-in-local-governments-transgender-rule
Milk, H. (2012). The Harvey Milk Interviews: In his own words. Vince Emery Productions.
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