It looks like Houston has spoken. “HERO” is a no-go. Wow. My faith is slightly restored in this city. Despite how liberal it is at its core, the people have spoken and overwhelmingly do NOT want HERO to pass. Thank the Lord! And God Bless Texas, might I add. Not just Christians, but all conservatives should be rejoicing tonight! However, there’s a lady who just “preached” publicly that is fuming and angry and spewing out bitterness from her “pulpit” already. Thankfully, she will soon no longer be Houston’s mayor (though it’s still unclear who will take her place).
Mayor Annise Parker, a self-proclaimed “40-year activist” passionately spoke the following words just minutes ago (italics, bold, underline added):
“No one’s rights should be subject to a popular vote. It is insulting, it is demeaning and it is just wrong. This is a campaign of fear-mongering and deliberate lies. Deliberate lies. This isn’t misinformation, this is a calculated campaign of lies designed to demonize a little understood minority and to use that to take down an ordinance that 200 other cities across America and 17 states have successfully passed and operated under. They just kept spewing an ugly wad of lies from our TV screens and from pulpits. This was a calculated campaign by a very small but determined group of right-wing idealogues and the religionist right and they know only how to destroy, not how to build up. This is about a small group of people who want to preserve their ability to discriminate. And they are willing to hurt all of these groups that would’ve been protected by this ordinance, in order to do that. Poll after poll showed that when Houstonians got the facts, they supported HERO. But unfortunately…unfortunately…in this calculated attack by the anti-HERO forces, the message of non-discrimination, of a good-neighbor ordinance that allowed us to solve our problems as a community together, got lost. And truly unfortunately I fear that this will have stained Houston’s reputation as a tolerant, welcoming global city. And I absolutely fear that there will be a direct economic backlash as a result of this ordinance going into defeat. And that’s sad for Houston and sad for all of us. “
She then chanted, “A HERO fights for justice! A HERO fights for justice!”
So, here are my initial thoughts (after I listened to her speech and wanted to throw up):
1 – It should be called HSRO, not HERO. They want SPECIAL rights, not EQUAL rights. Why should a person born as a man get SPECIAL rights to use a WOMAN’S bathroom? No thanks. Equal rights means all men have to use men’s restrooms and all women have to use women’s restrooms. That’s equally fair. There’s much more to the HERO bill, but this was definitely a huge part of it.
2 – Annise Parker just attacked PULPITS. AGAIN. Exactly a year ago, I attended an “I Stand Rally” where thousands of Houstonians came together to peacefully protest this very mayor’s decision to revoke SERMONS from local Houstonian pastors that may have opposed her on this whole “equal rights” issue. Phil and Alan Robertson, the Benham Brothers, Todd Starnes, Mike Huckabee, to name a few, were all speakers at this rally. Christians from all denominations showed up because we all knew that this was a direct attack on our ability to stand with the Bible when it came down to a “sensitive” subject. Folks, disagreeing with sin does not make us “intolerant” or against “equality”. It just means we are FOR morality, FOR right and wrong and FOR God. We don’t have to be jerks to those who oppose us and we don’t need to hate them. But we can certainly hold to morality and not let someone tell us that because we hold to these values that we are against equality. Boo. They are using words to intimidate and bully, and we don’t have to stand for it. (See just the small paragraph I quoted above for all of the derogatory words she used to describe anyone who opposed her).
3 – Mayor Parker claimed that the group opposing HERO was a “very small group”, but I think the facts are clear. HERO was out-voted by a LANDSLIDE. The media is crafty and does an excellent job making us look like the unpopular minority and look like the people who are just too stuck in our ways to see beyond our moral, conservative values. However, this vote shows that as biased as the media is and as good as they are at what they do, true justice has been served. (That’s right, Mayor Parker…TRUE justice). Right is still right and wrong is still wrong. At least today… in regards to THIS issue.
Tomorrow is another day and another battle. I hope we’re ready.
(Below are pics from the November 2014 “I Stand” Rally in Houston):
'Just a Mom's' View 
Once again, very well spoken! It is not just right winged activists who did not want this bill to pass. I spoke with an avowed atheist and he was very afraid that a woman would enter his public bathroom and accuse him of attempted rape. This bill was all-around bad for everyone except the special interest groups. Very well worded article, Jen McGee!
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