HERO on Hold - Time to Call Beyonce #BeyBeAHERO

by Kim D.

In late July, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of those who oppose Houston Mayor Annise Parker's HERO Ordinance. Either the city council must repeal the ordinance or put it on the ballot for the citizens to vote yea or nay as to whether it represents the moral fabric of a majority of Houstonians.

"We agree with the Relators that the City Secretary certified their petition and thereby invoked the City Council's ministerial duty to reconsider and repeal the ordinance or submit it to popular vote," the Texas Supreme Court wrote in a per curiam opinion. "The legislative power reserved to the people of Houston is not being honored." 

This is a huge win for those who took issue with HERO and had previously sought for a fair vote on the subject by way of a petition which was unfairly disqualified by the city. Those who support Parker's signature ordinance must be feeling nervous about HERO's fate because they are seeking help from one of the city's most successful celebrities, Beyonce. They believe one solid tweet from her would solidify support needed and ensure the ordinance gets the required votes to make it a permanent fixture and a crowning achievement for Parker's legacy.

Houston residents urge #Beyoncé to #BeyBeAHERO and support nondiscrimination ordinance: http://t.co/i0TRGx5coR pic.twitter.com/AuRfqX5kSF

— Out Magazine (@outmagazine) August 6, 2015

So, you may wonder, what is HERO and what's the big deal with it being implemented in the city limits of Houston? As the city's first openly gay mayor, Parker waited until she won her third and final term before pushing her HERO Ordinance guaranteeing equal rights for gay and transgendered persons in the workplace. While this sounds like an applaudable achievement, HERO was more than equal rights in the workplace . . . it was also equal rights in the bathroom, meaning that gay or transgender people could use any public restroom of choice.

This stipulation of the ordinance caused quite a bit of backlash. Imagine for a moment a mother and her young children using the women's bathroom at the Houston Zoo and being startled when a man walks in to use the same facility. Under the HERO ordinance, this would be perfectly suitable social behavior provided the man identified as a woman. Because, after all, asking a guy who feels like he is a woman to use the men's room would be psychologically damaging. His rights trump those of the mother, now being discriminated against, who normally would have an expectation of gender privacy in the bathroom along with the rights of her children who may or may not find it strange to see a dude in the lady's room.

The immediate reaction LGBT members and their supporters have to this issue of reverse discrimination is to roll the eyes and claim those who are against this aspect of the HERO Ordinance are being childish, resorting to the "nobody wants to see your junk" argument. This logic fails to acknowledge the converse - no normal person using any restroom is interested in seeing anyone else's "junk." Therefore any male, masculine or feminine, no matter what gender they identify with, should be able to use the men's room with just as much "privacy" as they would expect in the ladies' room. In fact Caleb Howe said it best in his commentary "My Bathroom, My Choice: (or Where Should I Piss, Cis?)":  

The fact is, the basic premise of the argument for the trans person using the bathroom of their choice is so that they don’t feel uncomfortable mixing with the “other” gender. That is the EXACT argument for them NOT using it. Why does the discomfort of one outweigh the discomfort of many?

When Mayor Parker first found herself in the middle of this controversy, she made an impassioned plea that the ordinance was near and dear to her because . . . it was about her and her lifestyle. Like many politicians, issues that are personal make for great identity politics and Mayor Parker was determined to pass HERO, no matter what. Those who are more accepting of gay and transgender lifestyles will agree with her while others believing this ordinance sacrifices the sensibilities of many for a minority will not. The most important aspect of this entire debate is that the Houston people get to decide. Mayor Parker may believe this ordinance is about her but it really is about all of the citizens who reside within city limits and pay her salary.