Houston Prop 1 HERO (Equal Rights Ordinance) fails to win approval
Last edited Tue Nov 3, 2015, 11:26 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: Associated Press
An ordinance that would have established nondiscrimination protections for gay and transgender people in Houston has failed to win approval from voters.
The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance was rejected Tuesday after a nearly 18-month battle that spawned rallies, legal fights and accusations of both religious intolerance and demonization of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Supporters had said the ordinance would have offered increased protections for gay and transgender people, as well as protections against discrimination based on sex, race, age, religion and other categories.
Opponents focused their campaign on one part of the ordinance related to use of public bathrooms by transgender men and women that they alleged would open the door for sexual predators to go into women's restrooms.
Read more: http://www.click2houston.com/news/proposition-1-houston-equal-rights-ordinance/36238732
Earlier: http://www.chron.com/politics/election/local/article/HERO-results-6608562.php
Early voting results show Houston's equal rights ordinance failing by a wide margin, with 62.5 percent of voters opting to repeal the law and 37.5 percent supporting the embattled ordinance.
Those results include 128,364 early voting and mail ballots but do not reflect turnout at the polls Tuesday.
The hotly contested election has spurred national attention, drawing comment from the White House and the state's top officials. Largely conservative opponents of the law allege that it would allow men dressed as women, including sexual predators, to enter women's restrooms. Supporters of the law, including Mayor Annise Parker, argue that it extends an important local recourse for a range of protected classes to respond to discrimination.
At opponents' watch party in the Galleria, campaign spokesman Jared Woodfill and others erupted in cheers as the early voting results were posted. "It's going down," Woodfill said. " It's over. Our message worked."
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Update: AP calls the contest:
https://twitter.com/AP/status/661741392172097537
BREAKING: Contentious LGBT nondiscrimination ordinance in Houston fails to win approval by voters.
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My comment: If this result holds, time for the NFL to yank the 2017 Super Bowl from Houston.
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