A Houston school bus charter near a water fountain in Houston, Texas. (Artistic Operations / Getty Images)
By Joe Saunders April 4, 2026 at 8:04am
Renaming Good Friday wasn’t such a good idea.
The city government of Houston, Texas, was the target of national outrage over an announcement that its offices would be closed on Friday in observance of “the Spring Holiday.”
In apparent response, the city deleted the post from the social media platform X, but by then, the damage had already been done.
Conservative radio host and commentator Todd Starnes was one of those calling out the disrespect to Good Friday — the prelude to Easter, the holiest day on the Christian calendar. He compared it to Houston’s treatment of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Notice the difference in how Houston City Hall celebrates a Christian holiday compared to a Muslim holiday. pic.twitter.com/CHKbrOf2TK
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) April 2, 2026
“Notice the difference in how Houston City Hall celebrates a Christian holiday compared to a Muslim holiday,” Starnes wrote.
The image on the right is from the official X account of the Houston mayor’s office.
Houston’s mayoral office is technically nonpartisan, but its mayor, John Whitmire, is a lifelong Democrat who defeated fellow Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee for the post in 2023.
Whitmire’s office did not respond to requests for comment, according to the Houston Chronicle.
But there was plenty of comment on social media about the nation’s fourth largest city, and it wasn’t good for Houston at all.
It’s actually GOOD FRIDAY, City of Houston. It’s not a “Spring holiday weekend.”
It’s okay to acknowledge Christian holidays. pic.twitter.com/SY8BWUPqnN
— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) April 3, 2026
Unbelievable.@HoustonTX can’t even write the words “Good Friday”, “Lent”, or “Jesus Christ” but they’re sure to never miss a celebratory Eid post…
What is happening in my home state? https://t.co/IbWdBIkYbW pic.twitter.com/g1Nxoch4HB
— Monty Bennett (@MontyBennett) April 2, 2026
Spring Holiday?
It’s Easter.
Just say it’s Easter.
The word Easter never harmed anyone.
Easter. #HeIsRisen https://t.co/1rBrfqM1os
— Patrick Creighton (@PCreighton1) April 2, 2026
Even after the controversy, and the post being deleted from X, either the city’s social media team wasn’t fully informed of the decision or it decided to split the difference, but the “Spring Holiday” post is still active on the city’s Instagram account, as the Houston Chronicle noted.
In previous years, the city’s announcements had no problem referring to Good Friday or Easter by their names, according to the outlet.
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro desk editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He’s been with Liftable Media since 2015.
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He’s been with Liftable Media since 2015. Largely a product of Catholic schools, who discovered Ayn Rand in college, Joe is a lifelong newspaperman who learned enough about the trade to be skeptical of every word ever written. He was also lucky enough to have a job that didn’t need a printing press to do it.
Birthplace
Philadelphia
Nationality
American
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