In May 2015, opponents of the ordinance asked the Texas Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus against the city of Houston. 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. Following the verdict in February, both sides claimed victory. 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. 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.
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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." 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. He said that the primary reason for his resignation was a desire to return to private practice. Feldman announced on December 19, 2014, his plans to resign from his position as Houston City Attorney shortly before the trial began. The lawsuit went to trial on January 19, 2015. Īfter the subpoenas were withdrawn, local city pastors filed a civil rights lawsuit against Parker. After what some news organizations called a "firestorm" of criticism over the subpoenas (Parker said that she had been "vilified coast to coast" ), Parker directed the city's attorneys on Octoto withdraw the subpoenas. Parker maintained that the attorneys who dealt with the lawsuit for the city were outside lawyers (i.e., not city employees) and that she and City Attorney David Feldman had been unaware of the subpoenas. Attorneys for the pastors called the subpoenas retaliation against Christians for opposing the ordinance. In response, city attorneys defending the law filed subpoenas for sermons from local Christian pastors. HERO opponents filed a lawsuit against Mayor Annise Parker and the city on August 5, 2014. The city announced that the opponents were 2,022 signatures short of the 17,269 needed to put the matter to a vote.
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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. Īlthough 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.
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Opponents of HERO presented about 50,000 signatures to the Houston city secretary's office on July 3, 2014. 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. This requirement was calculated by taking 10 percent of the greatest number of votes cast for mayor in any of the three preceding years.
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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. Opposition to HERO arose because the ordinance protected "transgender residents' ability to use the restroom consistent with their gender expression, regardless of their biological sex." HERO became known to some as the "Bathroom Law." Shortly after the ordinance passed, opponents of HERO drafted a petition and began gathering signatures to add a ballot measure to the November 2014 ballot to repeal the ordinance. The ordinance applied to businesses that serve the public, private employers, housing, city employment and city contracting. The measure banned 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. On May 28, 2014, the Houston City Council voted 11–6 to enact the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) which was authored by Houston's then-Mayor, Annise Parker. federal law nor Texas statewide law specifically covered sexual orientation or gender identity in employment and housing discrimination and services.