The Texas Supreme Court on Friday suspended the enforcement of a recently enacted LGBT non-discrimination ordinance in Houston, ordering the city council to repeal the measure or put it on the ballot before voters.
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HERO expanded the the city’s anti-discrimination code to include protection for sexual orientation and gender identity, essentially bringing it in line with current federal standards.
“The legislative power reserved to the people of Houston is not being honored”, the court wrote.
The passage of the ordinance was met by challenges from conservative activists and pastors who led a petition drive calling for a referendum or a repeal. In an opinion issued today, the court ruled that the city must repeal the ordinance by August 24 or place the issue on the November ballot.
But the city argued the petitions were fraught with forgeries and other problems that invalidated thousands of signatures. Her report also included a conflicting assessment from the city attorney, who said there weren’t enough signatures for referendum.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Wilson’s current lawsuit demands that Houston city secretary Anna Russell recount the supposed 22,000 petition signatures he delivered in boxes to Houston City Hall on Thursday.
“[The amendment] will prohibit men from going into women’s bathrooms and vice versa in all sex-oriented facilities – like swimming pools, locker rooms – that the city has”, Wilson explained to Houston TV station KHOU.
The fourth-largest city in the United States may soon be forced to shelve a provision intended to protect its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents.
The Texas Supreme Court has overturned a lower-court ruling that prevented voters in Houston from deciding for or against an ordinance providing special rights to homosexuals.
“It doesn’t matter how many times he submits petitions, he will always be too late”, mayoral spokesperson Janice Evans pointed out to the Chronicle Friday.
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“The actions she took were unlawful”, he added, “and now the court has said the people are going to have an opportunity to vote, and that’s all we’ve asked for from day one”.
