As a result of a rather contentious City Council meeting the vote on the hotly debated Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) has been postponed until May 28.
The ordinance would "prohibit discrimination in city employment, city contracting, housing, public accommodations and private employment at businesses." According to the City's website, "religious organizations are exempt from the definition of an employer" to avoid First Amendment issues.
Mayor Annise Parker announced a compromise to her proposed Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) after one of the provisions caused quite an uproar from the community
"The base ordinance is still the same," the mayor said. "It says you can't discriminate."
Republican political leaders and clergy members have particular issues with a paragraph of the ordinance that states: “It shall be unlawful for any place of public accommodation or any employee or agent thereof to intentionally deny any person entry to any restroom, shower room, or similar facility if that facility is consistent with and appropriate to that person’s expression of gender identity.”
Some opponents have used the provision to dub the measure "Parker's Sexual Predator Protection Act," claiming that it would give people the ability to lie about their gender to enter bathrooms where they could then attack women and children.
Members of Houston's LGBT community were equally upset by another portion of the paragraph which allows businesses to deny a transgender person restroom access “if the defendant had a good faith belief that the gender or gender identity of the person discriminated against was not consistent with the gender designation of the facility.”
In response to the upheaval, Parker proposed an amendment which would effectively remove the paragraph in question. While the so-called 'bathroom clause' is likely to be amended, transgendered individuals who are denied access to a restroom will still be able to file a discrimination complaint with the city under the process outlined for all those protected by the ordinance, according to Parker.
"The base ordinance is still the same," the mayor said. "It says you can't discriminate."
Parker tweeted a message to try and ease concerns and transgender outrage about the new amendment:
To my trans sisters/brothers: you're still fully protected in Equal Rights Ordinance. We're simply removing language that singled you out.-A
— Annise Parker (@AnniseParker) May 14, 2014
While the amendment to the ordinance was aimed at appeasing Republican and church leaders, more than 300 protesters gathered outside City Hall to express their displeasure.
At Wednesday's City Council meeting, members voted to postpone the vote on the ordinance. The council did, however, pass several HERO amendments, including one to apply the ordinance to companies with 15 or more workers, instead of 50, and another to ensure senior and veteran discounts would not be interfered with.
The exact language of the 'bathroom clause' was not altered at Wednesday's meeting. While the vote may have been postponed until May 28, the hundreds of protestors outside of City Hall show the issue still invokes strong feelings.
Equality Rights Ordinance backers today at City Hall.
