The City of Houston, led by Democratic Mayor John Whitmire, removed a social media post announcing that city offices would be closed Friday for a “Spring holiday” after drawing condemnation for not identifying the day as Good Friday.
The city’s official X account posted Thursday, “IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Due to the Spring Holiday, City of Houston offices will be closed on Friday, April 3.”
Christian Americans, including elected officials, candidates, activists, business leaders, and conservative commentators, were quick to notice and denounce the absence of any reference to Good Friday in the City of Houston’s post. Many contrasted the wording with previous City of Houston social media posts celebrating Muslim holidays.
The original message is no longer visible on the City of Houston’s X page. The city continued posting other updates on Friday, but as of Friday evening had not posted any separate message referring to Good Friday.
The City of Houston has not publicly explained why it deleted the post.
Good Friday is observed by Christians as the day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.