What’s happening
The ordinance, proposed during the July 9 City Council meeting, would require businesses, nightclubs and dance halls to post their dress code at or near the entrance, and if not posted, it will be interpreted that there is no dress code, and “no dress code policy shall be enforced.”
Pollard said this would prevent establishments from “arbitrarily selecting” who gains entry based on attire and eliminate any discriminatory practices.
“For a long time, establishments in the city of Houston have used the dress code as a way to either discriminate or limit who they allow in their establishment,” Pollard said.
This ordinance comes after he and Hollins were denied entry because Hollins was wearing tennis shoes, Pollard said.
“We’re able to finally get in after some back and forth, and then when we got in, we saw that there were other people in here wearing tennis shoes,” Pollard said. “It brought both of us to say we've experienced this over and over, whether it's on Washington or Midtown, places in my district that use the dress code as a way to limit who comes in.”
Hollins said in a statement that Houston is built on diversity and openness, and that there's no room for discrimination.
"In 2025, we will not tolerate unfair practices that allow bias to masquerade as routine business," Hollins said. "If elected officials are encountering this kind of arbitrary treatment, it’s almost certain that everyday Houstonians are facing it even more often—and that’s unacceptable.
What they’re saying
Council member Letitia Plummer, who co-signed the proposal, said these are experiences that happen for many Houston residents, and even something that happened for her sons, after they were denied entry for wearing hats.
“We need to eliminate the gray area,” Plummer said. “These are lived experiences that a lot of Houstonians experience, but because there’s nothing in place, they don’t even know how to complain about it. They don't share it. They share it amongst their friends and their peer groups, but they don't share it with lawmakers, because it's never an idea in their mind that’s possible.”
But the idea was met with pushback from numerous City Council members. City Council members Mary Nan Huffman and Fred Flickinger said they believe this ordinance was government overreach and something the city can’t enforce.
“If the business wants to put out, it should be up to the businesses on what they post,” Huffman said.
Flickinger said he has received complaints from the Greater Houston Restaurant Association about Pollard’s ordinance. He said he believes this is a problem the public isn’t “just aching about that we need to solve,” and that the private businesses own the property and have a right to refuse service.
“We have laws that prevent them from discriminating based on specific criteria; those laws already exist,” Flickinger said. “Anybody’s being discriminated against, they have the right to sue.”
The ordinance was ultimately tagged by council member Julian Ramirez, so that city officials could have further discussions and receive input from the Greater Houston Restaurant Association and the Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department.
