Leaders in San Antonio voted in favor of adding protections for the LGBT and transgender communities to a city ordinance that bans discrimination on employment, housing, public accommodations, and city contracting, the Washington Blade reported.
The San Antonio City Council voted 8-3 on Thursday following more than 700 people arguing for and against expanding the ordinance on Wednesday night before the vote.
Conservatives and religious activists openly opposed additions to the ordinance leading up to the vote, focusing specifically on the protection for transgendered people.
San Antonio May Julian Castro, a Democrat, was a primary supporter of the changes and said to the City Council just before voting that "this is a city that belongs to everyone."
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican candidate for governor, was one of the most vocal opponents of the bill and suggested that any additional protections would provoke lawsuits from people who do not believe in and oppose homosexuality.
Supporters argued against Abbott's claim and mentioned how other major Texas cities that passed similar bills, like Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and El Paso havenever had a problem with resulting lawsuits.
"The right wing extremists really threw everything at this and really put on a major offensive and they lost," said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. "And that is a big deal. Our side stood up. Our allies were just rock solid and we won."
Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said the vote demonstrates how the majority of San Antonio residents support equality under the law.
"Today's vote is a victory, but the attacks we saw from our opposition in the run-up to this - particularly the trans phobic messaging - remind us of the ruthless tactics they use to promote discrimination against LGBT people," he added.
