Court Nixes Houston Anti-LGBT Petition That Included Forged, Invalid Signatures | ThinkProgress

The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance passed last May banned discrimination in housing, employment, and city contracts, whether that discrimination is based on race, sex, sexual orientation or other factors. But a campaign to take down the law that honed in on its LGBT protections demonized it as a “bathroom bill” on the claim that allowing transgender individuals to use the women’s restroom would create a dangerous opportunity for sexual predators.

The so-called HERO law was on hold in the year since, after opponents submitted a referendum petition to have the law recalled that local officials found contained invalid signatures. Late Friday, a judge ruled in favor of the city, finding that the referendum did not have enough valid signatures to move forward. “[A]s a matter of fact and as a matter of law … the Referendum Petition is not valid or enforceable in all respects,” Judge Robert Schaffer found.

“Now all Houstonians have access to the same protections,” Mayor Annise Parker said in a statement. Houston was one of the largest cities in the country without any nondiscrimination law, and the ruling could signal the end of attempts to thwart the law, although the plaintiffs could appeal.

Court Nixes Houston Anti-LGBT Petition That Included Forged, Invalid Signatures | ThinkProgress