Gainesville, Florida Voters Reject Anti-GLBT Rights Measure

Voters in Gainesville, Florida rejected Charter Amendment 1, a measure that would have repealed existing ordinances that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Proponents of the measure marketed it as remedial law that would simply conform Gainesville law to standards set by the State of Florida. Gender identity and sexual orientation are not protected categories in Florida civil rights law. Proponents also raised the extreme possibility of opportunistic sexual predators dressing in drag in order to rape women and children in bathrooms. Despite the misleading and dramatic marketing strategy, the measure lost by a vote of 58-42 percent.