Opponents of Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance say they have enough sigs to put repeal on ballot
Opponents of Houstons Equal Rights Ordinance claim theyve gathered enough signatures to put a repeal on the ballot in November, but Mayor Annise Parker said shes confident voters would soundly defeat the initiative.
Opponents of the ordinance said they turned in 50,000 signatures on Thursday, meeting the deadline of 30 days after the ordinance took effect. They said about 30,000 of the signatures have already been validated as coming from registered city of Houston voters, according to the Houston Chronicle. Thats almost twice as many as the 17,269 signatures needed to place the repeal on the ballot. The City Secretarys Office now has until Aug. 4 to complete the validation process.
After opponents turned in their signatures, supporters of the ordinance, wearing red, gathered in the City Hall Rotunda for a press conference led by Parker, who authored the measure banning anti-LGBT discrimination.
The Houston I know does not discriminate, treats everyone equally and allows full participation by everyone in civic and business life, Parker said later in a release. We dont care where you come from, the color of your skin, your age, gender, what physical limitations you may have or whom you choose to love. I am confident voters will soundly defeat any challenge to the ordinance.
More at http://www.lonestarq.com/opponents-say-enough-signatures-put-houstons-equal-rights-ordinance-ballot/ .
Cross-posted in the Texas Group.