LGBT ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW REJECTED BY HOUSTON VOTERS
Photo: CBC News
A law aimed at protection against discrimination for the LGBT community in Houston was rejected after a battle that lasted more than a year. The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance was rejected with 61 per cent of the votes being cast against the proposed law.
The ordinance would have offered a higher level of protection against the discrimination due to race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and so on. Those who voted against the law claim that it would interfere with religious beliefs on the LGBT lifestyle. Opponents of the ordinance spent months campaigning against the idea of passing an equal rights law stating that the section regarding public bathrooms and transgender individuals would put women at risk of sexual assault in restrooms.
Houston Mayor Annise Parker accused the opponents of ‘fear mongering’ and stated that they were attempting to demonize the LGBT community.
“This was a calculated campaign by a small, very determined group of right wing ideologues and the religious right, and they only know how to destroy and not how to build up,” said Parker.
Republican leaders were pleased with the rejection of the law, calling the proposed ordinance “liberal nonsense.”
