Foes of equal rights law deliver signatures seeking repeal

Opponents of Houston's new non-discrimination ordinance turned in well more than the minimum number of signatures needed to trigger a November vote on whether to repeal the measure.

Most of the divisiveness around the ordinance stems from the protections it extends to gay and transgender residents, groups not already protected under federal laws like the ordinance's other protected categories: sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, pregnancy and genetic information, as well as family, marital or military status.

A group of conservative political and faith leaders on Thursday claimed to have gathered more than 50,000 signatures within the 30-day window after the ordinance's passage, about 30,000 of which they said have been validated as coming from registered city of Houston voters, as required by law.

"It has been shown and demonstrated that the people of the city do not want this ordinance," said pastor Max Miller, of the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston and Vicinity. "We simply say: Allow the people to vote on this ordinance."

Staff in the city secretary's office will have 30 days to verify the petitions, said Mayor Annise Parker, who pledged to fight the effort to overturn the ordinance should it make the November ballot.

"This was not a narrowly focused, special-interest ordinance," said Parker, the first openly lesbian mayor of a major American city. "This is something that the business and civic community of Houston was firmly behind and we fully expect if there is a campaign that it will be a spirited campaign, but we'll have the same outcome in November as we had around the council table."

The ordinance applies to businesses that serve the public, private employers, housing, city employment and city contracting. Religious institutions would be exempt. Violators could be fined up to $5,000.