As of yesterday, HERO, which was passed by City Council in May 2024, will be placed on the November ballot in accordance with an order by the Texas Supreme Court.

HERO was passed to prohibit discrimination in housing, private employment and public accommodations. The ordinance protects 15 classes of Houstonians on the basis of sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, marital status, military status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, and pregnancy.

HERO protects literally everyone in Houston, which is fantastic since Clutch City is the most diverse city in the nation. The bad news is that if it is repealed, Houston will once again be the only major city in Texas and the nation without a non-discrimination policy.

Over the last year, HERO has been relentlessly attacked for its inclusion of the LGBT community, and opponents aren’t about to back down until HERO is voted down at the polls. This means opponents will stop at nothing to demonize and dehumanize LGBT Houstonians in the process.

On Monday, Carlos Maza, the LGBT Program Director of Media Matters, published a blog on the Huffington Post arguing that Beyoncé could help stop discrimination in her hometown by supporting HERO.

The same day, Maza’s blog was shared on a small student organizing Facebook group for the Texas Freedom Network (TFN).

Ismael Melendez, a student organizer in the Rio Grande Valley, came up with the hashtag #BeyBeAHERO. Aracely Garcia, a student organizer in Houston, created a soon-to-be-viral graphic. With the help of other activists, they got the message all over Twitter. Within 24 hours, several major media outlets started writing about Beyoncé’s chance to be a hero.

The quick action on the part of these activists has been overlooked by many, but should not be underestimated.

“Millennials are important for this election because we are young, passionate, and we are the future of our city,” said Ms. Garcia. “Local elections affect all of us more directly in our day to day lives than any other election. If there’s anything I’ve learned, it is that local policy shapes federal policy, so this is where our voice and our power really counts, where we can come together to create real change.”

Fewer than 20% of eligible voters actually turn out to vote in Houston elections, in a city of 2.2 million. Young people comprise a whopping 25% of the eligible electorate in Texas, holding a quarter of the power statewide. Just imagine what kind of power they hold in Houston if they turn out at the polls this November.

Aware of this, TFN activists are harnessing their power to get Beyoncé to publicly endorse HERO. They know her voice will bring an enormous amount of attention to the impact an equal rights ordinance will have in Houston, encouraging young people to get involved.

“Beyoncé’s support would put pressure on more businesses and high profile individuals to come out in favor of equal rights, a tactic that has proven successful in states like Indiana and Arizona,” explained Ali Gorczynski, a TFN field organizer. “Between the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four and other sporting events coming to town, the total revenue Houston stands to lose if HERO is repealed is in the ballpark of $800 million.”

By reaching out to Beyoncé, these activists are rallying organizations and Houstonians around HERO and bringing much needed attention to an election that would likely have been ignored by many. If a handful of college students can create the #BeyBeAHERO campaign in two days, there is no telling what they–and Bey–can do in an election that is three months away.

Don’t let Beyoncé off the hook–join the efforts by tweeting #BeyBeAHERO and share why you support a non-discrimination policy in Houston. You can also pledge to fight for HERO at Houston Unites. Lastly, visit HouEquality for factual, up-to-date information about HERO. When the time comes, go vote!

Liberal watchdog group Media Matters analyzed coverage of the Equal Rights Ordinance. It broke down the time spent on “anti-LBGT myths” (fears that transgender perverts would attack women in restrooms) and time spent on other HERO-related news.

As you can see, KRIV failed the hardest. It spent the most time discussing conservative fears that the ordinance would open the metaphorical and literal door for perverts to sneak into the women’s restroom (for a full recap of why everybody lost their minds, read this).

KPRC (NBC) also deserves a sarcastic tip of the hat for the sheer percent of time it spent covering people’s fears that Jesus fucking Christ trans people can use their preferred restroom we’re all gonna die.

“What’s especially disconcerting is how local reporters themselves often appeared to buy in to the transgender bathroom smear,” Media Matters wrote.

Free Press’s Coverage of Hero

I’m disappointed Media Matters didn’t take the time to analyze Free Press Houston’s coverage (fine, we’re too small).

If they had, they might have discovered that we spent hundreds of words analyzing why conservative fears were overblown. I interviewed a professor who explained that you shouldn’t be afraid of transgender people in the restroom.

If anything, it’s said trans people who have the most to fear when taking a leak. They are harassed and attacked by people with the very same fears that were brought up in debating the Equal Rights Ordinance. Letting trans folks use their preferred bathroom in peace is a mercy.

In that sense, Free Press Houston spent a lot of time discussing the “anti-LBGT myths” disliked by Media Matters. The difference between us and KRIV, though, is we took the time to disprove them.

This also speaks to a problem with Media Matters’s statistics. Just because we spent time covering anti-LBGT fears and myths doesn’t mean we supported them. Far from it. We made fun of those overblown non-terrors in every article we ran.

Even the news outlets who look bad in this chart didn’t do that badly. The Chronicle looks unsupportive in that graph, but it published a blunt editorial titled “Pass the NDO.”

Could Houston’s media outlets have covered this one better? Sure. Is it as bad as Media Matters thinks? No way.

Thanks, We’ve Got It

“‘Bathroom panic’ has long been central to anti-LGBT activists’ efforts to undermine basic non-discrimination protections,” Media Matters wrote. “It’s the responsibility of media outlets to identify and discredit such cynical ploys, not perpetuate them.”

Way ahead of you, Media Matters.

“Winning approval of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) was a long, hard fight,” Parker wrote in a guest post for the Harris County Democratic Party. “While I don’t consider this the biggest accomplishment of my administration, it is the most meaningful to me personally.”

The Equal Rights Ordinance remains unloved by some conservative opponents, though. It drew massive amounts of criticism for a section spelling out the rights of transgender individuals to use the bathroom consistent with their public gender. After a long debate, it was removed.

The final ordinance removed the specific protections but kept blanket nondiscriminatory clauses protecting sexual orientation and gender identity. Any public business may not deny a public service because of those qualities. Bathrooms count as public services.

Interestingly, Parker stakes out a business-friendly position in her piece and tries to debunk the idea that the ERO is bad for Christian business owners. Remember, they believe that allowing transgender people to use their preferred restroom is infringing on their faith.

“A business owner, therefore, retains the right to deny a person use of a sex-designated facility if there is a reasonable belief that such person is of the opposite sex,” she wrote.

“Whether the proprietor is correct or not, acting on this belief would not constitute intentional discrimination; moreover, such exclusion would be consistent with existing City ordinance which makes it unlawful for any person to knowingly and intentionally enter any public restroom designated for the exclusive use of the sex opposite to such person’s sex without the permission of the owner or another supervisor for the calculated purpose of causing a disturbance.”

Translation: business owners can still bar people from using a restroom if they feel that person isn’t of that gender.

This statement is a fig leaf to the many, many protesters who feared that this ordinance would open the door for perverts to dress as women and sneak into the women’s restroom (the prospect of female perverts sneaking into the men’s restroom never came up with the protestors I talked to).

Parker saying this also shows that she remains dedicated to her original, unamended version of the Equal Rights Ordinance. She still wants to leave an exception for business owners (or at least for us to think she does).

The amended ordinance actually made things worse for Christian business owners, as they realized after the fact. It spelled out protections and a method of protest for them. Without that, they’re stuck in a legal gray area.

“What we did in the original language is say, ‘We know this is going to be controversial, we are gonna make a separate category, pull the transgendered community out, and give an affirmative defense to the business owner,’” Parker said before. “We were actually trying to be extra accommodating to the business owner.”

With this post, our mayor is trying to reach back out to those affected groups.

The Future of the Ordinance

Parker also spoke about the petitions in the works to get the Equal Rights Ordinance onto a city-wide referendum. Opponents are working on those now.

“Should any of these efforts make it onto the ballot, I believe they will be soundly defeated because the Houston I know does not discriminate, treats everyone equally and allows full participation by everyone in civic and business life,” she wrote.

“We don’t care where you come from, the color of your skin, your age, gender, what physical limitations you may have or whom you choose to love.”

Well said, Mayor.

The Houston City Council passed the Equal Rights Ordinance last week. Free Press Houston applauded the move for adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected characteristics for government and public services.

The city council made it illegal to discriminate against gays and transgender people for hiring, firing and housing.

Even though the ordinance passed, opponents of the bill are gearing up to challenge it. They feel that it infringes on the religious liberty of Christians.

“There was just so much community response to the city council’s putting that through and it felt like the citizenry didn’t have a real chance to express themselves,” Dr. Gary Moore of Second Baptist Church told Free Press Houston.

Opponents of the bill are gearing up to make their voices heard. A Harris County GOP rep did not respond to comment in time for publication.

“I encourage each of you to join me in taking a stand against the ordinance proposed by a Mayor who admits that the ordinance is all about her personal agenda and the campaign promises she made to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (‘LGBT’) community,” Harris County GOP Chairman Jared Woodfill wrote.

“The next step in this battle is to promote and circulate a petition that would force a city-wide referendum to repeal Mayor Parker’s Sexual Predator Protection Act.”

The Harris County Republican Party has set up a website to help collect signatures. They can put the ordinance up for vote on a city-wide referendum if they collect 17,000 signatures by June 30.

“People just felt like there was so much public response around the courthouse and in city hall that this is an issue that all of Houston needs to vote on,” Moore said.

Moore said he did not know the progress of the petition and could not predict its chance of success.

Maverick Welsh, president of gay rights group The Caucus, said he was unconcerned about a potential referendum.

“I think history’s on our side,” he said. “Their elected representatives overwhelmingly voted in favor of this ordinance. I think they wouldn’t have done so had the voters not been on the same page.

“I’m very confident. I think overwhelmingly most people will side with equality.”

After nine hours of debate last night, the Houston City Council passed the Equal Rights Ordinance by an 11-6 vote. It updated city code to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics for hiring, firing, housing, and public services.

“While much of the debate has centered around the gay and transgender section of the ordinance, it is a comprehensive ordinance,” said Mayor Annise Parker. “It is a good step forward for the city of Houston.”

The new law should protect minorities from discrimination, an important step for LBGT Houstonians.

Quick Background

The law sparked a lot of controversy because it originally spelled out protections for transgender folks. It said they could use their preferred restroom in any public business.

People freaked. The law made national news because holy shit perverts are going to use this law to attack us all. Protestors (for and against) packed into city hall every time the subject came up.

Eventually Councillor Jerry Davis added an amendment that removed the specific protections for transgender bathroom use.

This was supposed to be an olive branch to the haters… but, as they quickly realized, this change also removed protections for Christian businesses. So they kept protesting.

“I, like tens of thousands of other Houstonians, oppose the Ordinance,” wrote Harris County GOP Chairman Jared Woodfill. “This ordinance imposes another form of very real discrimination on businesses and people of faith, and puts innocent civilians in the path of sexual predators.”

The problem for them was that Parker had the votes to pass it from day one. Talking to people at City Hall, I learned that she could already get the bill through.

Sure enough, the bill went through at 8:29 p.m. last night. Congratulations, Houston. You’ve done something good today.

Some citizens initially disliked the loss of transgender protections from Mayor Annise Parker’s Equal Rights Ordinance. The law lost the section spelling out the right of transgender Houstonians to use their preferred bathroom in public.

“The ordinance, as it stands today… still fully protects the transgender community, the gay community, as well as all of the other protected groups in the federal statutes and those that we have added locally,” Parker said at a conference last Tuesday.

She said the paragraph spelling out the law for transgender use of the bathroom proved too controversial and had to go because it was stopping conversation around the ordinance.

“[The amendment] does not in any way diminish the protections offered to those communities,” Parker said.

Some gay rights groups agree.

“The issue in that section is that it created a lot of confusion, and some people jumped all over that section,” LBGT Caucus president Noel Freeman told Free Press Houston. “My understanding is that the mayor would like to see it go forward in a cleaner fashion.

“At this point, honestly, it doesn’t matter. We’re satisfied with the ordinance that’s put forth and we’d like to see it passed.”

The Backlash

Funnily enough, the very people the amendment was meant to appease are the ones who dislike it most.

Ed Young, pastor of Second Baptist Church, sent out an email to its members encouraging them to keep fighting the bill. He takes issue with the mayor’s compromise, saying it places Christians in a worse position than before.

“Do not grow weary of doing good!” Young exhorts his email audience. “Elimination of the bathroom provision does even more harm for businesses because they will lose the good faith defense which was previously available.”

He’s not wrong. The bill’s previous language carved out a broad exception for business owners who had a “good faith belief” that a customer’s expressed gender didn’t match their preferred bathroom. Basically, Parker left a giant hole for Christian businesses to squeeze through.

“What we did in the original language is say, ‘We know this is going to be controversial, we are gonna make a separate category, pull the transgendered community out, and give an affirmative defense to the business owner,’” Parker said.

“We were actually trying to be extra accommodating to the business owner.”

Now that’s gone. Technically transgender people are still covered under the ordinance, as gender identity is a protected characteristic under revised city policy. Even if the paragraph spelling out transgender restroom rights is removed, transgender citizens are still covered under general anti-discrimination laws for places of public accommodations.

The ordinance looks like it still protects transgender rights. The loss of a specific bathroom rules stings, undoubtedly, but in theory the ordinance should still offer protections without the loophole.

The Next Battle

At this point, the ordinance will likely pass. Parker claimed she had the necessary votes at the last meeting and delayed out of courtesy to other council members. Everything I heard at the city council meeting confirmed that assertion.

The real question is what will happen when it’s out in the wild. Without a pre-planned legal route of protest, violators (e.g. Christian businesses) could end up in court. Stay tuned to see if the ordinance holds up before a judge.