Texans owner donates to HERO opposition group

As reported by the Houston Chronicle, Houston’s mayor hit back at Berkman using Twitter to call him a hypocrite saying he’d played baseball in cities which have nondiscrimination ordinances.

Houston Texans owner Bob McNair is getting involved in the fight over the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

HERO, according to the proposition submitted to the City Council that the ordinance would prohibit “discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics in the city employment, city services, city contracting practices, housing, public accommodations and private employments”. “Obviously it speaks volumes to the support we have if a hero like McNair is contributing to our campaign”. “But it does happen and that’s why we’re here today”, Richard Carlbom, with Houston Unites, said.

Proponents of HERO have said that Houston will lose the privilege of hosting the Super Bowl in 2017 if it doesn’t pass.

The ordinance protects citizens from discrimination based upon race, age, disability, veteran status, gender identity and sexual orientation.

At the time, the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury all spoke out against the law. The same concern has been raised in Houston.

Campaign for Houston spokesman Jared Woodfill confirmed Friday that McNair sent the check to the group, which says the ordinance is “an attack on the traditional family”. A spokesperson for the Campaign for Houston responded that McNair would not be donating to the campaign if there were any truth to that claim. “Those who oppose the Equal Rights Ordinance are out of step with the National Football League and 200 cities around the country and 17 states”.

“I strongly believe that everyone who lives or works in or visits Houston should be treated with the utmost dignity and respect”, he said in a statement. “This problem can be solved by defeating the current bill in November, thoughtfully rewriting it and then resubmitting it to the voters”.