Houston voters reject measure to protect LGBT residents, 13 other groups

On Tuesday, voters in Houston rejected an ordinance that would have extended legal protections to gay and transgender residents, as well as prohibiting discrimination based on race, age, and 11 other classes. Proponents, including Mayor Annise Parker (D), had said the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) was similar to laws in 17 states and more than 200 cities, and would cement the inclusive reputation of America's fourth-largest city, as well as one of its most diverse. Opponents had a simpler message, characterized in the slogan "No Men in Women's Bathrooms." The opponents won, 61 percent to 39 percent, with 96 percent of precincts counted.

The Houston City Council had passed in the anti-discrimination ordinance in May 2014, but a coalition of socially conservative groups fought it, winning the right to hold a referendum in a case that went up to the Texas Supreme Court. Both sides poured millions of dollars into the campaign, but it appeared to be the transgender issue that propelled the opponents to victory. In one TV ad, former Houston Astros star Lance Berkman said voters should vote against the measure because it would allow "troubled men who claim to be women" to enter women's restrooms. (The ordinance said nothing about whether transgender women could use women's restrooms.)

"Houstonians sent a very clear message to the mayor, the city council, and the rest of the country that we do not believe that men should able to go into female restrooms, showers, and locker rooms," said Jared Woodfill, co-chairman of the main opposition group Campaign for Houston, on Tuesday night. Parker, a lesbian, accused the opponents of playing to unfounded fears, noting one ad that showed a grown man following a girl into a bathroom stall. "No one's rights should be subject to a popular vote," she said. "This was a campaign of fear-mongering and deliberate lies."

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