H.E.R.O. Text and Public Accommodations

Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (H.E.R.O.)

TEXT & PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS

H.E.R.O. TEXT & PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS

H.E.R.O. & TRANSGENDER RIGHTS QUESTIONS

The original Civil Rights Act of 1964 defined “public accommodations” in a very specific way. This definition was limited and did not require private business owners to know, inquire, be aware of, or in any way participate in a customer’s beliefs. The new ordinances like H.E.R.O., and H.E.R.O itself, change this definition so as to include any form of commerce. Without the vast majority of the people knowing this, the effect of these new definitions in laws and ordinances has been to essentially force people to surrender all their personal beliefs when they enter the marketplace, EXCEPT as approved by government policy. Therefore, if you do not believe in the new L-led GBT morality (as THEY have defined it), you have no right to your views, even in your own private business, because that is now government policy. Note, for example, that gay bars and other gay businesses in Houston have long been allowed to do whatever they want in respect to their bathrooms. H.E.R.O. changes that to make sure that nobody, not even gay bars, gets to decide what is appropriate for their own business.

The new effort is to force all private businesses, gay or not, to follow the norms now literally dictated by the militant L-led GBT activists (which by the way, are just as hostile to conservative gay business people as they are to Christian conservatives). Moreover, no longer can any business owner object to accepting any contract for a SPECIFIC, customized, expressive product or service, based on their own conscience – religious or not – unless that conscience harbors values approved by the state. This is contrary to the original language of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (not to mention just about every freedom promised by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution).

Any person, gay or straight, religious or atheist, who values the right of each person to earn a living and to control the work of their minds and the labor of their hands, should be stridently opposed to this new effort to enforce government mandated values on everyone. We especially would like to remind our friends who support non-discrimination laws for gay people that gay businesses have themselves been found in violation of these new laws, and have been denied the right to cater to a specific clientele.

Worse for H.E.R.O., it includes such vague language as to what constitutes discriminatory behavior, no small business owner, Christian conservative, gay, or whatever else, can ever be safe from a frivolous and unfair citation that can effectively destroy their business, and all the associated jobs with it.

Here is the language of H.E.R.O. and also the U.S. Civil Rights Act.

H.E.R.O. TEXT ON WHAT CONSTITUTES ILLEGAL ‘DISCRIMINATION’

ARTICLE V. PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT Sec. 17-61. Prohibition against discrimination in employment. (a) It shall be unlawful for any employer to intentionally discriminate in employment and employment opportunities on the basis of any protected characteristic. For purposes of this section, discriminate includes but is not limited to, any intentional act or demonstration of preference or antipathy in making decisions regarding employment that adversely affect an employee's pay, status, position, or assignment, including opportunities for overtime pay and advancement, and includes decisions regarding recruitment, job application procedures, referrals for employment, selection and hiring, appointment, compensation, promotions, demotions, transfer, retention, layoffs, recalls, training, educational opportunities, and all forms of discipline, including terminations.

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Observed the 26^th of every month through 2016 in public support of the values cited in the VFI Declaration.

Details on White & Red Day

DEFINITION OF PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS AS ORIGINALLY DEFINED IN

THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

TITLE II--INJUNCTIVE RELIEF AGAINST DISCRIMINATION IN PLACES OF PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION

SEC. 201. (a) All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, and privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.

(b) Each of the following establishments which serves the public is a place of public accommodation within the meaning of this title if its operations affect commerce, or if discrimination or segregation by it is supported by State action:

(1) any inn, hotel, motel, or other establishment which provides lodging to transient guests, other than an establishment located within a building which contains not more than five rooms for rent or hire and which is actually occupied by the proprietor of such establishment as his residence;

(2) any restaurant, cafeteria, lunchroom, lunch counter, soda fountain, or other facility principally engaged in selling food for consumption on the premises, including, but not limited to, any such facility located on the

premises of any retail establishment; or any gasoline station;

(3) any motion picture house, theater, concert hall, sports arena, stadium or other place of exhibition or entertainment; and

(4) any establishment (A)(i) which is physically located within the premises of any establishment otherwise covered by this subsection, or (ii) within the premises of which is physically located any such covered establishment, and (B) which holds itself out as serving patrons of such covered establishment.

(c) The operations of an establishment affect commerce within the meaning of this title if (1) it is one of the establishments described in paragraph (1) of subsection (b); (2) in the case of an establishment described in paragraph (2) of subsection (b), it serves or offers to serve interstate travelers or a substantial portion of the food which it serves, or gasoline or other products which it sells, has moved in commerce; (3) in the case of an establishment described in paragraph (3) of subsection (b), it customarily presents films, performances, athletic teams, exhibitions, or other sources of entertainment which move in commerce; and (4) in the case of an establishment described in paragraph (4) of subsection (b), it is physically located within the premises of, or there is physically located within its premises, an establishment the operations of which affect commerce within the meaning of this subsection. For purposes of this section, "commerce" means travel, trade, traffic, commerce, transportation, or communication among the several States, or between the District of Columbia and any State, or between any foreign country or any territory or possession and any State or the District of Columbia, or between points in the same State but through any other State or the District of Columbia or a foreign country