Houstonians Right to Vote on LGBT Ordinance will be Vigorously Defended

Houston, TX, August 8, 2014 – Yesterday, a state Judge stopped enforcement of the anti-religious LGBT bathroom ordinance pending an August 15 hearing on the matter. Today at a press conference at Houston City Hall, pastors and leaders of the No UNequal Rights coalition responded to Mayor Annise Parker and the City of Houston’s efforts to disqualify the ordinance petition signatures and this week’s court actions designed to disrupt the opportunity for Houston voters to repeal the ordinance.

Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values Action, released the following statement:

“We are pleased that the ordinance has been stopped, for now, and we will vigorously defend the right of Houstonians to take a timely vote on this dangerous ordinance. The oppressive actions of Mayor Parker and City Attorney David Feldman to throw out at least 30,000 petition signatures and then delay and distract in court only shows the desperate lengths they will go to prevent the people of Houston from having their say.

“Clearly, Mayor Parker and homosexual advocates want to use Washington-style executive power to shut the people of Houston out of this process and force residents to accept this highly divisive new law against their will. Houstonians should be the ones to decide this issue, and we will fight for their right to do so.”

On August 4, the people of Houston were censored by the City of Houston on the controversial anti-religious LGBT bathroom ordinance when of the over 50,000 petition signatures submitted from Houston residents, officially requesting that the City of Houston either repeal the ordinance or place it on the ballot for a vote by the people, Mayor Parker and the City of Houston City Attorney ruled that some of the pages, not the actual signatures themselves, failed to meet some legal form requirements. This was done in spite of City Secretary Anna Russell’s own report indicating that 17,846 validated signatures were found, after only looking through the first 19,177 petition signatures, which would meet the requirement to place the ordinance on the ballot for a vote of the people.

About Texas Values Action

Texas Values Action is the new advocacy arm of Texas Values, a non-profit organization dedicated to standing for faith, family, and freedom in Texas. More information is available at txvaluesaction.org.