Houston Texans owner Bob McNair has withdrawn a $10,000 contribution he recently made to efforts fighting against Houston's Equal Rights Ordinance. Texans spokesperson Kevin Cooper sent this personal statement from McNair to Outsports:
I recently made a personal contribution to Campaign for Houston because my thorough review of the HERO ordinance led me to believe that a thoughtful rewrite would provide a better ordinance that would provide strong non-discrimination protections for all Houstonians, which I would support, and would be less divisive of our city.
It was on these principles that I made my personal contribution to Campaign for Houston. To my great dismay, Campaign for Houston made numerous unauthorized statements about my opposition to HERO in print, broadcast and social media – including attributing certain statements of belief to me. Their actions and statements were never discussed with nor approved by me. Therefore I instructed the Campaign to return my contribution.
I do not believe in or tolerate personal or professional discrimination of any kind. I also believe that we Houstonians should have an ordinance that unites our community and provides a bold statement of non-discrimination. I encourage all Houstonians to vote on November 3.
Robert F. Kennedy once said, "Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work together to change a small portion of events, and in the total of those acts will be written the history of our generation."
McNair faced strong backlash for the donation, including a well-written letter by a gay teenage Houston Texans fan and another fantastic piece by Chris Kluwe.
