HOUSTON, Texas—Houston’s bathrooms, showers, and dressing facilities will now be open to all, regardless of gender, gender identity, gender expression, or other predilection of gender behavior. By an 11-6 vote of the Houston City Council, Mayor Annise Parker achieved this as the crowning jewel of her tenure as mayor.
Mayor Parker, Houston’s first openly gay mayor, said passing this ordinance was not the most important thing she has done in office, according to an article in the Fairfield Citizen, but it is the “most personally meaningful thing I will ever do as mayor.”
Houston Council Member, At Large Position 3, Michael Kubosh took exception to this. Kubosh told KPRC TV, "It's going to criminalize people that have been found in violation in the ordinance and the fine could be between $500 to $5,000."