Houston: Anti-gay coalition gathers twice the amount of petition signatures needed for repeal of LGBT protections

With 17,269 signatures needed, anti-gay opponents of the recently passed Houston Equal Rights Ordinance turned in 50,000 signatures to trigger a November vote to repeal the measure.

The coalition of conservative political figures and faith leaders have opposed the ordinance from it's earliest stages. Now they say Houston does not want the protections in place for LGBT citizens and the ordinance should be voted on by Houstonians.

More background via Lone Star Q:

The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, known as HERO, prohibits discrimination in employment, public accommodation and housing on the basis of sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, familial status, marital status, military status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity or pregnancy.

Before the ordinance passed in May, Houston was the only major city in the U.S. that lacked citywide LGBT protections.

Supporters of the ordinance have said they feel a ballot measure in November could have the unintended effect of boosting the Democratic ticket in Harris County by galvanizing pro-LGBT voters.