AUBREY R. TAYLOR: "Is the language of the HERO Ordinance intentionally worded to confuse voters??? Such has been the heated debate. However, to be clear, if you are “AGAINST” or you “OPPOSE” the HERO Ordinance, you should vote “FOR” the “Referendum” on Tuesday, November 3, 2015."
AUBREY R. TAYLOR: "If you “SUPPORT” the HERO Ordinance you should vote “AGAINST” the “Referendum” on Tuesday, November 3, 2015.
AUBREY R. TAYLOR: "Again, all those who “OPPOSE” the HERO Ordinance should vote “FOR” the “Referendum" to be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2015 in a "SPECIAL ELECTION" to decide the fate of the HERO Ordinance commonly referred to as Houston's Restroom Ordinance; or Houston's Equal Rights Ordinance."
HBC REPORTS
Are you confused on matters pertaining to the
HERO Ordinance? Well, you just may get a little more confused as the war surrounding this highly controversial ordinance rages onward toward the Tuesday, November 3, 2015 “SPECIAL ELECTION” to decide its fate. “It almost seems like there’s a force out there that wants to see people confused as it relates to the
HERO Ordinance,” says Aubrey R. Taylor, publisher of
Houston Business Connections Newspaper. “That’s why both sides in this matter will have their work cut out for them between now and the start of early voting which will be taking place from Monday, October 19, 2015 through Friday, October 30, 2015,” says Taylor.
Here’s the question voters will be asked:
Shall the City of Houston repeal the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, Ord. No. 2014-530, which prohibits discrimination in city employment and city services, city contracts, public accommodations, private employment, and housing based on an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, marital status, military status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, or pregnancy?
DOES THIS QUESTION GO FAR ENOUGH?
“I’m not sure that the question Houston voters will be asked (on Tuesday, November 3, 2015) goes far enough in terms of helping them (the voters) to understand what they’re really going to be voting “FOR” or “AGAINST” in the
“SPECIAL ELECTION” as it relates to the “Referendum” on the
HERO Ordinance, Taylor explains. “I get the
“NO DISCRIMINATION” part. But I think we would be hard-pressed to find anyone in Houston who wants to see anyone else discriminated against,” says Taylor.
A BIG CONCERN
“What concerns me the most about the
HERO Ordinance in my personal capacity can be found on (
PAGE 2) of "EXHIBIT A" where
"GENDER IDENTITY" is defined as an individual’s innate identification, appearance, expression or behavior as either male or female, although the same may not correspond to the individual’s body or gender assigned at birth," Taylor explains. "But maybe it's just me...so don't take my word for it. You can (
CLICK HERE) to read the ordinance for yourself."
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
ARTICLE 1, SEC. 3 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: All free men when they form a social compact have equal rights, and no man, or set of men, is entitled to exclusive separate public emoluments, or privileges, but in consideration of public services.
ANALYSIS: “At the end of the day, governments are instituted by the people (that’s you and me). This is pretty much what Article 1, Section 3 of Texas’ Constitution speaks to,” says Taylor. “Heck, the first principle of “SOCIAL COMPACT” as it relates to (you and me) and the power we wield as protected citizens speaks to the fact that our governments are instituted by you and me, and based on our consent to a certain degree,” Taylor explains. “So in essence our government can only do what we give it consent to do – at least that’s my take.”
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO VOICE YOUR OPINION ON IMPORTANT MATTERS
ARTICLE I, SEC. 8. OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: Every person shall be at liberty to speak, write or publish his opinions on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that privilege; and no law shall ever be passed curtailing the liberty of speech or of the press. In prosecutions for the publication of papers investigating the conduct of officers or men in public capacity, or when the matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be given in evidence. And in all indictments for libels the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the facts under the direction of the court, as in other cases.
ANALYSIS: “If you do not “AGREE” with certain things going on in your world, have a right to speak out on those matters,” says Taylor.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO PROTEST
ARTICLE 1, SEC. 27. OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: The citizens shall have the right, in a peaceable manner, to assemble together for their common good, and apply to those invested with the power of government for redress of grievances or other purposes, by petition, address or remonstrance.
ANALYSIS: “You and I have a right to assemble together on matters we deem to be important as it relates to our common good,” says Taylor. “So, if our government does something that we don’t feel is in our best interest, or pose safety risks, we have a right to petition our government.”
WHAT IS DISCRIMINATION?
WIKIPEDIA: “Discrimination is the treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing is perceived to belong to, rather than on individual merit.”
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE TERM REVERSE-DISCRIMINATION?
WIKIPEDIA: “Reverse discrimination is discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group in favor of members of a minority or historically disadvantaged group. Groups may be defined in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, or other factors. This discrimination may seek to redress social inequalities under which minority groups have had less access to privileges enjoyed by the majority group."
WHAT IS A MINORITY GROUP?
WIKIPEDIA: "Rather than a relational "social group", as the term would indicate, the term refers to a category that is differentiated from the social majority, that is, those who hold the majority of positions of social power in a society, and may be defined by law. The differentiation can be based on one or more observable human characteristics, including, but not limited to: ethnicity, race, gender, wealth, health or sexual orientation."
The term "minority group" often occurs alongside a discourse of civil rights and collective rights which gained prominence in the 20th century. Members of minority groups are prone to different treatment in the countries and societies in which they live. This discrimination may be directly based on an individual's perceived membership of a minority group, without consideration of that individual's personal achievement. It may also occur indirectly, due to social structures that are not equally accessible to all. Activists campaigning on a range of issues may use the language of minority rights, including student rights, consumer rights, and animal rights.
IS THE LGBT A MINORITY GROUP?
WIKIPEDIA: "LGBT or GLBT is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the term is an adaptation of the initialism LGB, which itself started replacing the term gay when in reference to the LGBT community beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, as many felt the term gay community did not accurately represent all those to whom it referred. The initialism has become mainstream as a self-designation and has been adopted by the majority of sexuality and gender identity-based community centers and media in the United States and some other English-speaking countries. The phrase is also used in some other countries, in whose languages the initialism is meaningful, such as Argentina, France and Turkey.
The initialism LGBT is intended to emphasize a diversity of sexuality and gender identity-based cultures and is sometimes used to refer to anyone who is non-heterosexual or non-cisgender instead of exclusively to people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. To recognize this inclusion, a popular variant adds the letter Q for those who identify as queer or are questioning their sexual identity as LGBTQ, recorded since 1996. Some intersex people who want to be included in LGBT groups suggest an extended initialism LGBTI, and this initialism is used in all parts of "The Activist's Guide" of the Yogyakarta Principles in Action. Some people combine the two acronyms and use the term LGBTIQ.
Whether or not LGBT people openly identify themselves may depend on whether they live in a discriminatory environment, as well as on the status of LGBT rights where they live."
DO YOU BELIEVE LGBT CITIZENS ARE BEING DISCRIMINATED AGAINST?
“In a lot of respects, LGBT citizens are indeed discriminated against in areas of housing, employment, and even social circles – and this is wrong! NOBODY should be discriminated against for any reason,” says Taylor. “I actually agree with Mayor Annise Parker and Houston’s City Council when they state: “WHEREAS, the City of Houston seeks to provide an environment that is free of any type of discrimination based on sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, marital status, military status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy (“Protected Characteristics”); and…”
THE MAJOR POINT OF CONTENTION FOR SOME PEOPLE AS IT RELATES TO THE HERO ORDINANCE
“Over the next few months you’re going to hear the words discrimination, bigot, anti-gay, homosexual, transgender, LGBT, GLBT, lesbian, straight, intolerant, diversity, and the like – so get used to it,” says Taylor. “But the real point of contention isn’t found in any of the aforementioned words. The real point of contention is going to be found in the term “GENDER IDENTITY”.
HERE’S HOW THE CITY OF HOUSTON DEFINES “GENDER IDENTITY”
On PAGE 2 of “EXHIBIT A” of Ordinance No. 2014-530, commonly referred to as the HERO Ordinance,
“GENDER IDENTITY” means an individual’s innate identification, appearance, expression or behavior as either male or female, although the same may not correspond to the individual’s body or gender assigned at birth.
HERE’S HOW “GENDER IDENTITY” HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN DEFINED
WIKIPEDIA: "Gender identity is one's personal experience of one's own gender. This is generally described as one's private sense of being a man or a woman, consisting primarily of the acceptance of membership into a category of people: male or female. All societies have a set of gender categories that can serve as the basis of the formation of a social identity in relation to other members of society. In most societies, there is a basic division between gender attributes assigned to males and females. In all societies, however, some individuals do not identify with some (or all) of the aspects of gender that are assigned to their biological sex."
TRADITIONALLY THE WORD “PRIVATE” HAS BEEN A KEY FACTOR
ANALYSIS: “Traditionally a person’s expression of their gender has been a private matter. This is where I believe a majority of Houstonians are going to have a problem with the
HERO Ordinance,” explains Taylor. “Many Houstonians strongly believe that Mayor Annise Parker and the City Council Members who “SUPPORT” this ordinance are giving people the right to get up in the morning and “SELF-DECLARE” who or what gender they are, and/or “EXPRESS” themselves to be on any given day,” explains Taylor.
DOES THE HERO ORDINANCE POSE A PUBLIC SAFETY RISK?
“As it’s currently written, a very large group of Houstonians believe that the
HERO Ordinance is indeed a “SAFETY CONCERN” and an “ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN” if it’s not “REPEALED” on Tuesday, November 3, 2015,” says Taylor.
THE PEOPLE OF HOUSTON WILL DECIDE THE FATE OF THE HERO ORDINANCE ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015
“I don’t know what the voters of Houston are going to decide as it relates to the
HERO Ordinance. However, I am very eager (personally) to see how those who are “FOR” and “AGAINST” the highly controversial ordinance are going to inform and educate Houston voters heading into Election Day.”
DISCLAIMER
The opinions expressed by Aubrey R. Taylor, publisher of Houston Business Connections Newspaper in this report do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Aubrey R. Taylor Communications; or supporters, sponsors, advertisers, friends, associates, or anyone else associated directly or indirectly to Aubrey R. Taylor Communications.
STATEMENT FROM WOODFILL
Mayor Parker Trying to Deceive Houstonians Again: We Are Back in Front of the Texas Supreme Court!
By Jared Woodfill
After spending a year fighting Mayor Parker for the right to vote on her personal, social agenda -
HERO Ordinance/Bathroom Ordinance, we thought the next step would be an election in November. Unfortunately, Mayor Parker is up to her same old tricks, proposing and passing ballot language that is deceitful, misleading and unlawful. This morning we filed suit against Mayor Parker in the Texas Supreme Court, arguing that the ballot language is a direct and flagrant contravention of what the Houston City Charter requires.
Mayor Parker defiantly passed the following ballot language to be included in the ballot for the November 3, 2015 election: "Shall the City of Houston repeal the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, Ord. No. 2014-530 which prohibits discrimination in city employment and city services, city contracts, public accommodations, private employment, and housing based on an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, marital status, military status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity or pregnancy?" (italics added).
This format is legally wrong, as it perverts the clear mandate from the Charter and reverses or flips the impact of a vote in favor or a vote in disfavor of the suspended ordinance. More specifically, the Mayor Parker's current wording would require a voter who is in favor of the suspended ordinance to vote "No" or "Against" the proposition, while a voter who is not in favor of the suspended ordinance to vote "Yes" or "For" the suspended ordinance. That is a legal recipe for an electoral disaster. Voters will be confused, because someone who is against the proposition cannot vote against, and vice-versa.
We further asked the Texas Supreme Court to order Mayor Parker to remove gratuitously inserted words, phrases or acronyms which are not otherwise contained within the text of the suspended ordinance itself. Specifically, the Mayor's ballot language includes the phrase "Houston Equal Rights Ordinance." But that phrase is nowhere to be found in the text of the suspended ordinance. It is simply a deceptive, misleading, unlawful insertion designed to give Mayor Parker an edge at the polls. If we were to request the insertion of the phrase "Sexual Predator Protection Act" into the ballot language, it would be strenuously opposed by Mayor Parker. Ballot language is not to be taken lightly, and politics and slanted language have no legitimate place on the ballot. The court of public opinion is the appropriate forum for legitimate debate of the merits of the proposition.
We will continue to oppose Mayor Parker and her LGBT agenda to make sure Houstonians get a fair election! Please keep this case and election in your prayers. I will keep you posted on our progress.
.“With what took place at Houston's City Hall on Wednesday, August 5, 2015, I think we’ve come to a place where supporters and those opposing the ordinance have found common ground -- at least as it relates to the notion that the voice of the people should be heard...but it should have never come to this," he says. "They (Mayor Annise Parker and City Council) should not have had to have the Texas Supreme Court to force them to do the right thing by the people of Houston."
