On Tuesday the citizens of Houston voted against an ordinance that would have protected LGBT people from discrimination. The loss was devastating with more than 60 percent rejecting the protections.
Do not for a moment think that this is an isolated incident in a backwater town. Houston is a world-class city. Its mayor, Annise Parker, is a lesbian. There is a strong and organized LGBT community boasting a community center, an LGBT political caucus, a museum of LGBT history, a Pride Festival, an international LGBT Film Festival and much more.
Opponents of the ordinance launched a campaign combining radical right religious freedom rhetoric and a campaign that used extraordinary fear tactics about bathrooms, saying that if a man claimed to be a woman he could use the "Ladies Room." They played into fears about sexual predators and children. One ad actually presented a man walking into a bathroom stall with a young girl.
LGBT and progressive groups from around the nation outspent the opposition and brought in political leaders and celebrities in support of the ordinance. But it was the conservatives, armed with their hard-hitting "bathroom campaign" and religious liberty rhetoric who resonated with voters.
LGBT America, we have a problem. We need to stop dismissing our opposition. We need to stop pretending that the culture war is over. We cannot win without tough grassroots strategies and connections. We need to engage and educate. We need to organize. And we need to ignite our movement, our people and our allies. If we do not, we will see the Houston campaign repeated around the country.