 |
| Photo: zimmytws | Shutterstock.com |
The Texas Supreme Court dealt Houston’s contentious LGBT
ordinance a huge blow last week. The court ruled that the
city of Houston must repeal it or allow a vote on the Equal Rights Ordinance.
The ordinance qualified for the ballot but was kept off by
Houston’s mayor, who sparked outrage when she tried to subpoena sermons and
communications of local pastors.
The Equal Rights Ordinance banned business that serve the
public from discriminating against gay or transgender people. The ruling sends
Houston a clear message from the state supreme court: We don’t like your law. In
May 2014, the Houston City Council passed the ordinance to protect gay, bi, and
trans people from discrimination in housing, employment and city contracts.
Opponents of the measure quickly gathered signatures to
force a referendum on the law and at first the petition was seen to be valid.
But on further examination, a jury found that many of the signatures were
forged and a judge agreed that once you threw out the forgeries, the petition
had too few signatures to move forward. Now, the Texas Supreme Court has
reversed the decisions of the judge, jury, and city attorney.
The ruling states “But what of the City Council’s complaints of forgery, false
oaths, and the like?” the ruling
states. “Although these issues were addressed at
trial and are now pending before the court of appeals, we note that the City
Secretary never claimed the referendum petition was plagued by forgery or
perjury. Yet the City Council decided, of its own accord, not to act,
disregarding the City Secretary’s certification that the petition had enough
signatures,” wrote Chris Johnson, a reporter covering this story for the
Washington Blade.
Supporters
of the ordinance have organized a variety of local business interests to ensure
that it stays in place after a November ballot. Local businessman Bobby Singh
is quoted in The Houston Chronicle saying, "Let's send a strong
message to people across the country and across the world that Houston is open
for business."
Read more about this issue in The Houston Chronicle.
Read more about this issue in The Houston Chronicle.
إرسال تعليق