HOUSTON (AP) – The landslide defeat of a nondiscrimination ordinance in Houston has stunned LGBT-rights activists across the nation. They’re now bracing for their opponents in other states to seize on the successful tactic of stoking fears over transgender people’s access to public restrooms.
By a 61-to-39-percent margin, voters in America’s fourth largest city on Tuesday rejected a broad equal-rights ordinance – extending protections in employment, housing and public spaces on the basis of race, sexual orientation, gender identity and other categories. Opponents prevailed with a campaign that dubbed the measure “the bathroom ordinance” and raised the specter of male sexual predators invading women’s restrooms.
The outcome was “a devastating blow to equality,” said the Human Rights Campaign, a national group advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
“It’s almost unbelievable that this could happen in a city like Houston,” said the campaign’s president, Chad Griffin. “But make no mistake: If we don’t double down today, we’ll face the same thing again and again in cities across the nation.”
The ordinance lost despite strong support from many major businesses, and despite its supporters’ arguments that serious problems with bathroom access have been virtually nonexistent in the 17 states and scores of cities that have banned discrimination against transgender people in public accommodations.