What the Equal Rights Ordinance Passage Means for the City Going Forward

Mayor Annise Parker signs the city’s new equal rights ordinance, which the city council passed on May 28. (Image via Twitter @AnniseParker)

Houston’s City Council Wednesday passed the long-debated Equal Rights Ordinance, which extends equal rights protections to gay and transgender Houstonians. The vote had been delayed, in part, to offer more time for public comment, including some nine hours of discussion Wednesday. Ultimately, though, the council passed the ordinance by a vote of 11 to 6.

Mayor Annise Parker – the first openly lesbian mayor in a major U.S. city – called it the “most personally satisfying and most personally meaningful thing [she] will do as Mayor.”

We discuss the ordinance’s passage and what it means for the city going forward.