In April, a state district judge ruled in favor of the city, saying opponents of the ordinance had not gathered enough valid signatures. The ordinance had been in effect for about three months when it was put on hold as the legal challenge made its way through the courts. City officials later ruled that they hadn’t collected enough signatures, prompting a lawsuit from the opponents. With the Houston vote garnering national attention, the loss for HERO supporters comes after a tumultuous year and half since the ordinance was first passed by the Houston City Council in May 2014.Īlmost immediately, conservative activists and pastors began collecting signatures to petition a referendum or repeal of the ordinance. “And I absolutely fear that there will be a direct economic backlash as a result of this.” “Unfortunately, I fear that this will have stained Houston’s reputation as a tolerant, welcoming, global city,” Parker said after the vote. city, had warned before the vote that repealing the ordinance would be detrimental to Houston’s reputation as "a warm welcoming place that tolerates differences and respects diversity.” Houston Mayor Annise Parker, whose 2009 election made her the first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. "We have to continue sharing our stories so that more Houstonians know what HERO is really about and aren't susceptible to the ugliest of smear campaigns run by the opposition." "We've learned some important lessons, as well," the statement read. In a joint statement, the coalition of organizations that campaigned in support of the ordinance as part of the Houston Unites campaign, including Equality Texas, the ACLU of Texas and the Human Rights Campaign, said the fight for nondiscrimination measures was not over. Supporters of the ordinance called the strategy fear-mongering and hoped for a win even after early voting figures showed the ordinance behind by a wide margin. “It was about allowing men to enter women’s restrooms and locker rooms - defying common sense and common decency.” “The voters clearly understand that this proposition was never about equality – that is already the law,” Patrick said. On Tuesday, Patrick attributed the defeat of the “misguided” ordinance to voters standing up to “pandering to political correctness.”
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Dan Patrick, cited the bathroom arguments in lending their political muscle to the campaign opposing the ordinance. Outside of polling places, signs read “NO Men in Women’s Bathrooms.” And television ads bankrolled by opponents depicted a young girl being followed into a bathroom stall by a mysterious older man.Īhead of Tuesday’s vote, Republican state leaders, including Gov. Dubbing it “the bathroom ordinance,” they argued the ordinance’s gender identity protection would allow sexual predators to enter women’s bathrooms.