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To: Governor Greg Abbott

Massage Therapists Deserve To Make An Income Too

Governor Abbott - you left out one key group today during your press conference. Massage therapists and those who run massage establishments deserve to be able to open and provide an income for their families. Most massage therapists are independent contractors or small business owners and many do not qualify for unemployment. Massage therapists have been closed since March 20th and many chose to close before that date. We deserve the ability to make an income too.

If your strike force feels it is safe for hairstylists, barbers, tanning salons, nail salons, cosmetologists, and even gyms to begin opening safely, many of us simply do not understand why you excluded massage therapists (and those with massage establishments).

Why is this important?

Massage therapists provide medically necessary services for their clients including but not limited to services that:

1. Boosts the immune system
2. Help drain the lymphatic system
3. Reduces pain and inflammation
4. Improves circulation and lowers blood pressure
5. Lowers stress
6. Helps with fatigue
7. And a multitude of other benefits

Many of our clients have chronic illnesses and come to us to help alleviate pain and to maintain a higher quality of life.

By forcing us to stay closed, you are handicapping us and preventing us from taking care of our families as well as handicapping the thousands and thousands of clients across the state who come to massage therapists for a multitude of reasons. If a client can go to a physical therapist or chiropractor as well as get their hair and nails done (or tan or go to a gym), certainly they should be allowed to make this choice for themselves as well.

How it will be delivered

In person and by email

Links

Campaign Facebook Page

Updates

2020-05-13 17:12:08 -0400

Corrected video link: https://vimeo.com/292202314/3293a26715

Please contact the governor’s office and his strike force. We need to stand together. You can also use Resist Bot to contact your state and nationally elected officials. Text resist to 504-09 for details on how to easily send texts to your elected officials.

https://gov.texas.gov/contact
https://gov.texas.gov/organization/opentexas/contact
Please sign the petition if you haven’t already. We are working hard behind the scenes and hope to have positive news to report soon as well as a large media representative to share our plight. Please help us spread the word. We can’t do it alone.
https://tinyurl.com/texasmassagetherapistpetition

2020-05-13 17:11:03 -0400

These videos are circumstantial proof that Greg Abbott is lumping licensed massage therapists with sex traffickers and prostitution. Sex trafficking is definitely an abhorrent problem that needs to be fought. Nobody denies that. But preventing thousands of licensed therapists from working will not solve this problem. What about the articles at the same TDLR link about the same problem in nail salons? This is not the fault of reputable licensed nail techs either. The link below is from the TDLR website. They have many articles that seem to prove what people are saying.

Governor Abbott need's to address this. By not addressing it - you are giving your constituents free rein to believe what they choose.

https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/humantrafficking.htm
//vimeo.com/292202314/3293a26715

2020-05-09 10:50:10 -0400

500 signatures reached

2020-05-07 13:16:41 -0400

Today we received an update from AMTA saying that massage therapists in Texas are being lumped together with sex workers. Yet we can spend 30-60 minutes being touched by another professional such as a hair stylist, barber, nail professional, etc. but not by a licensed massage therapist.

This is completely offensive and if this is true it’s utterly uneducated as well.

We are calling, emailing and texting our elected officials and media daily - please help us.

Please share as well.

2020-05-06 19:48:33 -0400

Thank you all for signing. If you have signed please share. Every signature counts.

2020-05-06 18:12:39 -0400

100 signatures reached

2020-05-06 15:39:03 -0400

50 signatures reached

2020-05-06 12:09:39 -0400

25 signatures reached

2020-05-05 23:19:58 -0400

10 signatures reached