Pastor In Anti-LGBT Radio Ad Attacking Nondiscrimination Ordinance Was Fired For Sexual Harassment

Do opponents of Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance really care about protecting women?

Opponents of Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) claim it would allow sexual predators to enter women’s restrooms to prey on victims. But their choice for a spokesperson in two new radio ads casts doubt on whether they’re really concerned about the safety of women. 

The Rev. Kendall Baker, pastor of Christ Solid International Church and a candidate for City Council, reportedly was fired by the city for sexual harassment in 2014. A 2013 investigation by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) found evidence that Baker, the city’s former 311 director, solicited sexual acts from female subordinates. In addition to making lewd comments and sexual advances, he solicited donations from them for his church, the investigation found.

Baker narrates two new ads that began airing this week in opposition to HERO, which will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. The ads were paid for by the anti-LGBT Campaign for Houston.  

“I can’t believe we’re having a conversation about whether men should be allowed to go in women’s bathrooms, showers and locker rooms,” Baker says in one of the ads. “The bathroom ordinance is shameful. It will allow men to freely walk into places where women are most vulnerable and violate their privacy. The Rev. Will Reed recently cut a radio commercial supporting this sickening ordinance. Let me be very clear about this: A real minister stands up for the safety of women.” 

In another ad, Baker says: 

“It offends me that the homosexuals compare their cause to that of black Americans. Homosexuality is a choice, but I was born black.” 

Baker is running for City Council in District F, part of a reincarnation of the anti-LGBT “Straight Slate” that ran in 1985 — when mayoral candidate Louie Welch said the best way to combat AIDS would be to “shoot the queers.” 

Baker was suspended indefinitely by the city after a female employee filed a sexual harassment complaint against him in June 2013, according to the inspector general’s report (below).

“Although Mr. Baker denied the allegations and blamed a municipal Union board member for inciting the complainant to fabricate the allegations, the OIG did not find that the allegations were fabricated,” the report said. “Mr. Baker’s explanations were neither satisfactory nor exculpatory.”

Baker later said he’d been fired, during testimony against the Equal Rights Ordinance before the council approved it in May 2014. The Office of Inspector General would also investigate complaints filed under HERO. 

“The reason I know the OIG is overwhelmed is because I just ended a 28-year, 11-month career with the city and was wrongfully terminated and the OIG did not handle the case appropriately,” Baker told the City Council. 

Houston Mayor Annise Parker responded by saying, “You are proof we do a good job in the OIG, sir.”

Baker also told Parker during his testimony: 

“I say to you, what if I came into the restroom here while you were sitting on the toilet? How would you feel? Wouldn’t you feel uncomfortable?”

After the council approved the ordinance, the city rejected a petition seeking to repeal it, saying it didn’t have enough valid signatures. Anti-LGBT activists filed a lawsuit, but a district judge upheld the city’s decision, saying the petition contained widespread forgery. However, HERO opponents eventually obtained a decision from the elected, all-Republican Texas Supreme Court, ordering the city to repeal the ordinance or place it on the ballot. 

Opponents of the ordinance are building their anti-HERO ballot campaign almost entirely around the transgender bathroom myth, which has been thorougly and repeatedly debunked. The ordinance would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and 13 other characteristics, including race. Houston is the largest city in the US that doesn’t currently have LGBT protections in employment, housing and public accommodations. 

Watch Baker’s testimony against the ordinance, and view the inspector general’s report on the complaint against Baker below. 

 

Image: Screenshot via Campaign for Houston/YouTube