In a 8-4 vote on Wednesday, the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council struck down a proposed law that would have ensured equal protections for LGBTQ minorities in Baton Rouge. In addition to sexual minorities, the law would have defended the rights of veterans and seniors with regards to their employment and affordable access to stable housing.
Ronnie Edwards, a member of the council responsible for voting on the legislation expressed her sentiment that the law did not do enough to protect other minorities including women, the impoverished, former convicts, and those living with HIV/AIDS.
WFAB reports:
Councilwoman C. Denise Marcelle proposed the ordinance. She says the debate turned ugly and personal for her. She said she became the victim of threatening, anonymous hate mail sent to her personal residence over the weekend.
"It's not an affirmation of homosexuality. It's an affirmation of nondiscrimination," Marcelle says. "I don't care how it looks discrimination will not be accepted in any form by Denise Marcelle.”
Council Member Buddy Amoroso [pictured], who was among the eight to vote against the ordinance, said he doesn't see the need for the law.
"I don't feel this meets the same level of discrimination I've seen with other minorities primarily African Americans back in the sixties when I was young."
Anti-gay protestors backed by the Louisiana Family Forum also showed up outside the city council chambers to voice their opposition to the proposed bill.
Watch a WFAB report on the vote and council meeting, AFTER THE JUMP…
[via joe.my.god]
