Houston, Texas Proposition 1, 2015

Proposition 1
Location	Houston, Texas, United States of America
Date	November 3, 2015 (2015-11-03)
Results Votes  % Yes 100,582 39.03% No 157,110 60.97% Valid votes 257,692 95.84% Invalid or blank votes 11,180 4.16% Total votes 268,872 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 979,401 27.45%
Source:

Proposition 1 was a referendum held on November 3, 2015, on the anti-discrimination ordinance known as the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO).

Background

Map of Texas counties and cities that have sexual orientation and/or gender identity anti–employment discrimination ordinances

  Sexual orientation and gender identity with anti–employment discrimination ordinance

  Sexual orientation with anti–employment discrimination ordinance

  Sexual orientation and gender identity solely in public employment

  Sexual orientation in public employment

  Does not protect sexual orientation and gender identity in employment

Neither U.S. federal law nor Texas statewide law covers sexual orientation or gender identity in employment and housing discrimination and services. On May 28, 2014, the Houston City Council voted 11-6 to enact the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO). The measure bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, pregnancy, genetic information, family, marital, and military status. The ordinance applies to businesses that serve the public, private employers, housing, city employment and city contracting. Religious institutions would be exempt. Violators could be fined up to $5,000.

Shortly thereafter, opponents of HERO drafted a petition and began gathering signatures to add a ballot measure to the November 2014 ballot to repeal the ordinance. City law required 17,296 valid signatures from registered Houston voters for a successful veto referendum petition, which would require the city council to either rescind the targeted ordinance themselves or put it before voters. This requirement was calculated by taking 10 percent of the greatest number of votes cast for mayor in any of the three preceding years. Moreover, signatures had to be submitted before the ordinance was scheduled to take effect or within 30 days of the publication of the approved ordinance, whichever came first. Opponents of HERO presented about 50,000 signatures to the Houston city secretary’s office on July 3, 2014.

Although the city secretary found enough valid signatures to make the petition sufficient, the city attorney advised her of certain problems with enough of the petition sheets to invalidate the petition. These problems included signature gatherers who were not registered to vote and petition sheets that were not signed by the signature gatherer responsible for them, as well as other, more technical problems. In reaction, the groups supporting the repeal of the ordinance filed a lawsuit against the city.

The lawsuit went to trial on January 19, 2015. Feldman announced on December 19, 2014, his plans to resign from his position as Houston City Attorney shortly before the trial began. He said that the primary reason for his resignation was a desire to return to private practice. He also noted, however, that his decision to resign was related to the lawsuit as well, saying, "Being on the outside, I'm going to be a lot freer to tell the story and to explain it to people and to debunk the myth. There's also the question of the process that was followed. These guys are saying we somehow interfered and didn't have the right do it. I need to explain what it means to be city attorney and the ethical obligation I have to the city to make sure the ordinance is enforced." As reported by the Houston Chronicle, Feldman noted, too, that if he testified in the trial as the city attorney, it would prohibit other attorneys from the city's legal department from serving as counsel for the city.

On February 13, 2015, a jury issued a verdict saying that while the petitions did not contain instances of fraud, they did contain forgeries and instances of failure to follow proper procedure. District Judge Robert Schaffer then initiated a recounting process to determine whether or not opponents of HERO had gathered enough valid signatures to satisfy the threshold of 17,296. Following the verdict in February, both sides claimed victory. A definitive answer, however, did not emerge until Judge Schaffer's ruling on April 17, 2015, when he determined that the opponents of the ordinance had not gathered enough valid signatures.

In May 2015, opponents of the ordinance asked the Texas Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus against the city of Houston. On July 24, 2015, the court granted this petition and ruled that the Houston City Council should have honored the city secretary's initial signature count and must either repeal the ordinance or include it on the November 2015 ballot, writing in a per curiam opinion, "We agree ... that the city secretary certified their petition and thereby invoked the city council's ministerial duty to reconsider and repeal the ordinance or submit it to popular vote. The legislative power reserved to the people of Houston is not being honored."

The appeal of Judge Schaffer's ruling is currently on hold in the Fourteenth Court of Appeals, with further litigation still possible. On November 24, 2015, Jared Woodfill, the lead plaintiff who sued the city, asked the case to be dismissed as moot. On December 15, 2015, the Court of Appeals announced it would consider the motion to dismiss alongside the merits of the case. On January 12, 2016, the Court ordered Jared Woodfill to file a brief on the merits by February 8, or the appeal would be dismissed, allowing Schaffer's ruling to stand.

Endorsements

Yes on Proposition 1

Proposition 1 gained the support of many prominent leaders, companies and celebrities. Thanks to the large number of wealthy and famous people in support of the proposition, the "YES" side raised $1,918,552.01, compared to the "NO" side, which raised $398,471.76 (As of December 4, 2015).

Yes on Proposition 1

Politicians and activists Chris Bell, former U.S. Representative, former Houston City Council member, candidate for Mayor in 2001 and nominee for Governor of Texas in 2006 Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Senator Stephen Costello, Houston City Council member Wendy Davis, Former Texas State Senator and Texas gubernatorial candidate in 2014 Adrian Garcia, former Harris County Sheriff and former Houston City Council member Martin O'Malley, former Maryland Governor Barack Obama, U.S. President Annise Parker, Houston mayor Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator Sylvester Turner, State Representative and candidate for Mayor in 1991 and 2003 Celebrities and business people Dustin Lance Black, screenwriter, director, film and television producer Matt Bomer, actor Adam Bouska, fashion photographer Jason Collins, athlete Sally Field, actress Chris Kluwe, athlete Marty McVey, private equity executive Jim Parsons, actor Michael Sam, athlete George Takei, actor Organizations ALCU of Texas Apple Inc. BASF Equality Texas EMC Corporation General Electric Greater Houston Partnership Harris County Democratic Party Freedom For All Americans Hewlett Packard Houston GLBT Political Caucus Houston Unites Human Rights Campaign NAACP Houston Branch Texas Freedom Network

No on Proposition 1

Opposition came from anti-LGBT individuals and organizations.

No on Proposition 1

Politicians and activists Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas Art Aguilar, candidate for Houston Community College Trustee Election Trustee District III in 2015 Kendall Baker, candidate for Houston City Council member in 2015 Manny Barrera, candidate for Houston City Council member in 2015 Jim Bigham, candidate for Houston City Councilmember in 2015 Jack Christie, Houston City Council member Florida Cooper, candidate for Houston Community College Trustee Election Trustee District II in 2015 Abel Davila, candidate for Houston City Council member in 2015 Diana Davila, candidate for Houston Independent School District Trustee Election District VIII in 2015 Willie R. Davis, candidate for Houston City Council member in 2015 Vince Duncan, candidate for Houston City Council member in 2015 Bill Frazer, candidate for Houston City Controller Herlinda Garcia, candidate for Houston City Council member in 2015 Franklin Graham, pastor Ben Hall, attorney, former Houston City Attorney and candidate for Mayor in 2013 Steven F. Hotze, president of Campaign for Houston Carl Jarvis, candidate for Houston City Council member in 2015 Bill King, attorney and former Mayor of Kemah Mike Knox, candidate for Houston City Council member in 2015 Michael Kubosh, Houston City Council member Steve Le, candidate for Houston City Council member in 2015 Ann McCoy, candidate for Houston Independent School District Trustee Election District IV in 2015 Sandie Moger, candidate for Houston City Council member in 2015 Roy Morales, candidate for Houston City Council member in 2015 Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor of Texas Manuel Rodriguez, Houston Independent School District Trustee, District III Brenda Stardig, Houston City Council member Evelyn Thompson, candidate for Houston City Council member in 2015 Jared Woodfill, former chairmen of the Harris County Republican Party Celebrities and business people Lance Berkman, athlete Bob McNair, Houston Texans owner Organizations Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity Campaign for Houston Family Research Council The Heritage Foundation

Voter demographic

Age

Range	All	Pct
18-30	21,998	8.2%
31-40	32,359	12.1%
41-50	39,074	14.6%
51-60	58,610	21.9%
61+	115,755	43.2%

Population

Proposition 1 votes	Population of Houston, Texas	Pct
268,872	2,054,717	13.08%

Criticism of the No on Proposition 1 campaign

Opposition

According to Amy Stone, an associate professor of sociology at Trinity University in San Antonio who studies LGBT politics and policies, “The religious right, who largely oppose these ordinances, have ceased to use gay panic defenses,” and “They now focus on the danger of transwomen in bathrooms and the threat, in some cases, they raise for women and children.”

Campaign for Houston, a conservative organization that was created on August 24, 2015, in order to fight against Proposition 1. Campaign for Houston is opposed to adding sexual orientation and gender identity as part of the Houston Code of Ordinances anti-discrimination laws. It has been described as an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"Bathroom ordinance"

Conservatives dubbed Proposition 1 the "bathroom ordinance" and adopted the slogan "No men in women's bathrooms," focusing on concerns that passage could lead to male sexual predators dressing up as women and entering women's restrooms. Thom Hartmann stated that nowhere in the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance that would have allowed sexual predators into women's bathrooms.

However, prior to the vote on Proposition 1, 19 US states had enacted anti-discrimination laws, covering employment and housing for gender identity, along with 17 US states covering public accommodations for gender identity, along with least 225 counties cities and counties prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity in employment ordinances that governed all public and private employers in those jurisdictions in the United States. Of all of those anti-discrimination laws enacted, not a single incident of what conservatives had been saying would happen in Houston under the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

On November 6, 2015, at the First in the South Candidates Forum, Hillary Clinton stated that "the far right did, very successfully, is really engender a lot of fear and a lot of anxiety, and create this backlash against this ordinance. And they used the bathroom issue. And yet, you could go to another city in Texas, like San Antonio, and you would know that that was totally without merit, that there was no basis for it. I think this is a reminder that if you stand for equal rights, if you stand against discrimination, you don’t just do it once and you’re done," and "You’ve got to keep fighting for it, you’ve got to keep standing up for it, you’ve got to keep moving forward."

Reaction

Barack Obama

On November 10, 2015, President Barack Obama officially announced his support for the Equality Act of 2015.

Annise Parker

Houston Mayor Annise Parker stated, "I fear that this will have stained Houston's reputation as a tolerant, welcoming, global city. I absolutely fear that there will be a direct economic backlash as a result of this ordinance going into defeat and that’s sad for Houston."

NCAA

On November 22, 2015, the National Collegiate Athletic Association said it would reconsider procedures in how it selects host cities for tournaments and championship events to include protections for the LGBT community.

NFL

Despite Houston voters rejecting Proposition 1, the NFL announced it will not alter plans to have the city host Super Bowl LI. Houston Texans owner Bob McNair donated $10,000 to Campaign for Houston, an organization that opposes the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. McNair has a long history of supporting conservative political causes. Houston's rejection of the ordinance has led to fears that LGBT people are no longer welcome in NFL stadiums and that Houston is "no longer a 'safe place' for LGBT people to visit or do business, as they can be turned away from a hotel or by a waiter or cab driver, simply for 'looking or acting' gay or being trans".

Aftermath

Houston, Texas is now the largest city in the United States without equal rights ordinance for LGBT people.

2015 Houston mayoral runoff election

Sylvester Turner, who is running against Bill King in the 2015 Houston mayoral runoff election, stated he is "100 percent" committed to reenacting Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) and attacked Bill King for saying he won't revisit the issue of HERO, along with his support from the Campaign for Houston. On December 12, 2015, Sylvester Turner beat Bill King and won the 2015 Houston mayoral runoff election, leading to a likely revival of the ordinance.

See also

• Homophobia
• LGBT rights in Texas
• Politics of Houston
• Transphobia