Texas Supreme Court Rules Against "HERO" Ordinance

Today, The Texas Supreme Court has extended the fight against the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the city must either repeal the ordinance or put it on the ballot. The Texas Supreme Court ruling may be controversial but it is fully legal. The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance was proposed by Mayor Annise Parker in April of 2014.

Nicknamed “HERO”, HERO is an equal rights ordinance that protects all Houstonians from discrimination within “city employment, city services, city contracting practices, housing, public accommodations, and private employment”. The official quote in the ordinance says “[T]he City of Houston seeks to provide an environment that is free of any type of discrimination based on sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, marital status, military status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, or pregnancy”

There may seem to be no need for controversy surrounding HERO. However, when first proposed, it included a section that would allow people to use the restroom or locker room that best fit their gender identity. This section was removed from the ordinance several weeks later but that did not prevent the storm of controversy from brewing, especially when conservative talk show host Mike Huckabee got a hold of it. Mike Huckabee asked his Facebook users to protest the ordinance. This led to a group of Houston area pastors petitioning for a repeal referendum in November. Their petition was successful.

The City Secretary declared their petition valid; however, the City Attorney did not. Not only did he not find it valid, he filed a subpoena on pastors sermons, saying some pastors were electioneering from the pulpit which violates the section of the tax code that grants churches their tax-exempt status.

Eventually, a jury ruled in the cities favor and the ordinance was passed.

Today, The Texas Supreme Court has come to the conclusion that legally, only the city secretary is to review and validate the petition and there was no reason for the City Attorney to be involved. While I do support HERO as it is currently written, the Texas Supreme Court stands in correct legal authority.