#HERO, Houston, Dallas and #schadenfreude

Austin isn't the only city in Texas that, after last night's vote, continues to offer more legal protection to transgendered people than Houston.

El Paso ranks even, or a bit better. San Antonio and Fort Worth rank higher.

And, per Lone Star Q, only slightly behind Austin?

Dallas.

Now, Austin doesn't have the infrastructure for an NCAA Final Four, or even a regional final. San Antonio does. But, only one city besides Dallas can host a Super Bowl.

And ... it's Arlington!

That said, Jethro Jerry Jones may get to have Jethroworld shine in Dallas reflective glow, and host a second Super Bowl before post-old Rice Stadium Houston hosts one.

After all, Phoenix lost a Super Bowl over the state of Arizona not having a Martin Luther King Day.

And, it's not just sports. General Electric has indicated there's no way it will move its corporate HQ to anywhere in Texas as long as we have economic nutbars representing our state in Congress. (Frankly, I partially disagree with the inside-the-Mopac state media punditry on the Export-Import Bank, but that's a sidebar.)

There's also convention business and such.

There's already been speculation about how long before Houston faces a formal boycott.

I said last night on Twitter that I would l laugh my ass off if some Dallas business leaders actually bankrolled such a boycott on the hopes that it not only steered events away from Dallas, but steered them to Houston.

Now, I've got blogging and personal friends in Houston, and like them all.

That said, this reminds me of several years ago, when I was interviewing for a newspaper position with a daily not too far away from greater Helltown.

I was asked, by the chief editor: "Are you a Houston person or a Dallas person?"

Now, I"m not a native Texan. But, I'd already lived in this state long enough that (besides laughing internally that Austin and San Antonio don't make the cut) I knew what it was about, and knew what my answer was.

I'm still a Dallas person.

A lot of native Texans call Dallas the New York City of Texas. It's meant as an insult when it's actually, of course, a compliment.

Houston? I used to (before that interview, for not quite a year) live between Houston and College Station. Never grew on me (other than the mold, perhaps). Maybe in part it was because I was "homesick" for Dallas. Anyway, Houston to me never compared to Dallas.

In reality? Houston strikes me as Los Angeles with snakes, mosquitoes and humidity. And, no, that's not a compliment, even before the failed HERO vote.

That said, unlike Indiana, when the state considered passing a bigoted "religious freedom" ordinance, I don't know how Houston business leaders could readily reverse the results of last night. I suspect many Houstonians would dig in their heels against such an effort.

For public consumption, the NFL has said for now it's not moving the 2017 Super Bowl for now, and the NCAA has said it's not moving next spring's Final Four.

Is that written in stone? No. Now the NFL had two-plus years to move the 1993 Super Bowl from Phoenix, not one-plus, but it's doable.

First, sponsoring advertisers have to be threatened with boycotts. Second, Houstonians who were pro-HERO (and actually voted?) must man the picket lines. Things go forward from there.