The Texas Supreme Court told the state’s largest city on Friday that it must repeal Houston’s equal rights ordinance or place it on the November ballot.
The Houston City Council must decide by Aug. 24, the Houston Chronicle reported Friday.
Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) was passed by the city council in May 2014. Opponents quickly took issue with the protections afforded to gay and transgender citizens.
Some of those opponents then sued the city, saying City Secretary Anna Russell had certified there were enough signatures to force a repeal of the ordinance onto a popular ballot, but that Mayor Annise Parker (pictured above) and the then-city attorney had determined the signatures were on invalid pages.
As Texas Monthly reported in January, HERO did not only apply to LGBT citizens of Houston, but to all residents.
From the ordinance’s text: Protections extend to “city employment, city services, city contracting practices, housing, public accommodations, and private employment.”
Read the decision here.
