Voters in Fayetteville, Arkansas have
approved an ordinance that prohibits discrimination based on sexual
orientation and gender identity in the areas of employment, housing
and public accommodations.
According to the Democrat-Gazette,
52.8 percent of voters cast ballots on Tuesday in favor of the city's
Uniform Civil Rights Protection ordinance
“I think this says that Fayetteville
voters really are fair and inclusive folks,” Kyle Smith, president
of For Fayetteville, told the paper. “I think we proved tonight
that this is the Fayetteville we all know and love.”
The vote was a reversal from a similar
special election held in December, when 52 percent voted to repeal a
similar ordinance approved by lawmakers last August. Josh Duggar and
his mother, Michelle Duggar, led the successful campaign to repeal
the ordinance, claiming that such measures jeopardize
the safety of children. In July, TLC canceled 19 Kids and
Counting, the reality show based on the lives of Jim Bob and
Michelle Duggar and their large family, amid allegations Josh Duggar,
the Duggars' oldest son, sexually molested underage girls as a
teenager.
In February, state lawmakers approved a
bill that outlaws municipalities from adopting ordinances prohibiting
LGBT discrimination and Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson allowed
the bill to become law without his signature. The law recently took
effect.
Opponents are expected to use the law
to challenge Fayetteville's ordinance.