The day after voters in Houston, Texas defeated a measure dubbed by many to be “the bathroom bill” aimed at “protecting” gay and transgender people from discrimination, Wednesday’s CBS Evening News lit into those who overwhelmingly opposed the measure by touting fears of Houston businesses being boycotted and even the 2017 Super Bowl being moved out of the city due to this measure’s failure to pass.
Anchor Scott Pelley started the diatribe by explaining that the final margin was “61 percent to 39 percent against an ordinance to ban discrimination in housing and employment based on age, sex or gender identity.”
Prior to correspondent Omar Villafranca’s segment, Pelley lamented that the “gender identity” portion had “overwhelmed the issue.” Villafranca started by denoting the formal title of the measure (known as the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, or H.E.RO.) before supposedly informing viewers of why there were so many against it:
The measure was called the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, but opponents dubbed it “the bathroom bill” and made the name stick through a series of ads that claimed women and children would become vulnerable to sexual predators in ladies' rooms.
Whining that the now-failed ordinance supposedly “made no mention of bathrooms,” Villafranca hyped that the mention of “gender identity” was a phrase “seized upon” by opponents like Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick.
Following a clip of Democratic lesbian Mayor Annise Parker denouncing the majority of voters as having engaged in “a calculated campaign of lies designed to demonize a little understood minority,” Villafranca continued to pile on by reciting other “anti-discrimination” laws that have passed: “17 other states and 200 municipality, including five major cities in Texas, have similar language banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
Taking a page out of the playbook the left and the media used in Indiana during the religious freedom debate, Villafranca hyped the proposed boycotts and consequences for the city having not voted the way the LGBT community wanted them to: “Already, some groups are calling for a boycott of Houston businesses if the measure is not overturned and that could be significant, Scott, because Houston is in the running to host the 2017 Super Bowl.”
Concerning the Wednesday morning newscasts, both CBS This Morning and NBC’s Today had news briefs on the result from the Lone Star State. On CBS, co-host Charlie Rose painted a rather innocuous portrait of the ordinance by describing as a move “to protect gay and transgender people from discrimination.”
Today co-host Savannah Guthrie struck a similar tone, fretting that it “failed to pass” despite being “designed to protect the rights of gay and transgender people that drew support from the White House” with her brief being accompanied by the following on-screen headline: “Houston Voters Reject Gay-Rights Measure; Say No to Broad Anti-Discrimination Ordinance.”
As this writer wrote here on Wednesday, The New York Times had a difficult time grappling with the vote and the outcome of the “costly, ugly war of words” launched by opponents.
The transcript of the segment from the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley on November 4 can be found below.
CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley
November 4, 2015
6:40 p.m. Eastern
SCOTT PELLEY: Houston voted 61 percent to 39 against an ordinance to ban discrimination in housing and employment based on age, sex or gender identity. Omar Villafranca reports the gender identity part overwhelmed the issue.
OMAR VILLAFRANCA: The measure was called the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, but opponents dubbed it “the bathroom bill” and made the name stick through a series of ads that claimed women and children would become vulnerable to sexual predators in ladies' rooms.
NARRATOR OF ANTI-H.E.R.O. AD: Protect women's privacy. Prevent danger. Vote no on the Proposition One bathroom ordinance. It goes too far.
VILLAFRANCA: The ordinance made no mention of bathrooms, but it was the include of gender identity that opponents like Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick seized upon.
REPUBLICAN LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR DAN PATRICK (Tex.): I'm glad Houston led tonight to end this constant political correctness attack on what we know in our heart and our gut as Americans is not right.
VILLAFRANCA: Houston Mayor Annise Parker, who is lesbian, had endorsed the measure.
DEMOCRATIC HOUSTON MAYOR ANNISE PARKER: This is a calculated campaign of lies designed to demonize a little understood minority.
VILLAFRANCA: 17 other states and 200 municipality, including five major cities in Texas, have similar language banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Jared Woodfill helped organize opposition to the bill.
JARED WOODFILL: When the people finally had an opportunity to express their will on it, to show how they felt at the ballot box, they overwhelmingly said no to the Mayor's personal edge and they said no to her bathroom ordinance.
VILLAFRANCA: Lou Weaver is transgender and a community activist.
LOU WEAVER: Right now, I'm disappointed, but I also know it's not over. I'm going to get up and continue this fight. I'm going to continue to educate about this, and that we will win.
VILLAFRANCA: Already, some groups are calling for a boycott of Houston businesses if the measure is not overturned and that could be significant, Scott, because Houston is in the running to host the 2017 Super Bowl.
PELLEY: Omar Villafranca reporting tonight. Omar, thanks.
