Duluth, GA – Timothy Head, Executive Director of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, issued the following statement today on the defeat of Proposition One in the city of Houston, Texas. The initiative would have required all Houston businesses to provide gender neutral restrooms. The initiative would also subject individuals and businesses to criminal prosecution for refusing access to these facilities based on their religious beliefs or conviction of conscience, providing special legal protection for sexual orientation and gender identification.

“People of faith from across the nation, stood together with the citizens of Houston, to oppose this ballot initiative that would allow men dressed as women to utilize private female facilities and potentially criminalize anyone opposed to the policy. The tactics and misleading selling of this ordinance, including issuing subpoenas to pastors to review their sermons, along with the proposed limitations on free speech and religious liberty for anyone opposing the policy, did not fool the people of Houston. This is just the latest example that when these issues are actually presented to voters, they do not fare well, and so proponents lean heavily on activist judges or veiled local government administrative procedures. When proper light is shone, voters rarely like what they see.”