In a development that made front-page news across the country, Houston voters recently repealed the city’s first-ever non-discrimination ordinance. The ordinance, known as HERO (the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance), prohibited discrimination in housing, public accommodation, and employment based on race, gender, and 24 other characteristics, most of which were already protected under state and federal law. But opponents focused on HERO’s protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, claiming that the transgender access provisions would allow men to masquerade as women in order to harass girls in public restrooms. Fears about “the bathroom bill” trumped any discussion of the ordinance’s broader employment-related protections, and HERO was defeated.
While the defeat of HERO eliminates one set of local rules related to employment of LGBT workers, federal statutes are increasingly being interpreted to provide similar benefits. The Houston vote notwithstanding, the clear trend appears to be one of expanding, rather than eliminating, such protections.
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