A campaign to overturn Houston’s just-passed equal rights ordinance hit a roadblock last year when the city said it had found “irregularities” in a petition drive. Next week, the anti-gay rights group behind the petition takes its case to court, still hoping for a voter referendum in the fall.
The ordinance, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity and several other categories, was passed last May by a Houston City Council vote of 11-6. When Mayor Annise Parker, one of the first openly gay mayors of a major U.S. city, signed the bill at City Hall, hundreds of citizens looked on and erupted into applause.
But opponents weren’t ready to call it quits.
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A jury trial examining the signatures will begin on Jan. 26. In a press conference last week, Mayor Parker said the trial could take months. She expressed sympathy for the jurors, “who are going to have to go through page by page, signature by signature.”
“But we will do whatever we need to do to defend the position,” Parker said.
