Last Saturday we reported that Apple and 60 tech companies supported the Houston Unites Coalition on a key human rights vote that took place on last week. For the record, Houstonians voted in a lesbian mayor Annise Parker who took office back in January 2010 which shows that they're not homophobic. But when it came to Houston's Equal Rights Ordinance (Prop 1), it was too much for too many to go along with.

It was reported this week that "An ordinance that would have established non-discrimination protections for gay and transgender people in Houston failed to win approval from voters on Tuesday.

The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance was rejected after a nearly 18-month battle that spawned rallies, legal fights and accusations of both religious intolerance and demonization of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Houston residents rejected the ordinance by a vote of 61 per cent to 39 per cent.

Supporters of the ordinance had said it would have offered increased protections for gay and transgender people, as well as protections against discrimination based on sex, race, age, religion and other categories.

Opponents of the ordinance, including a coalition of conservative pastors, said it infringed on their religious beliefs regarding homosexuality. But in the months leading up to Tuesday's vote, opponents focused their campaign on highlighting one part of the ordinance related to the use of public bathrooms by transgender men and women that opponents alleged would open the door for sexual predators to go into women's restrooms.

Democratic Houston Mayor Annise Parker, who is gay, blamed the rejection by voters on opponents' "bathroom ordinance" campaign, which she called "fear mongering" and part of an effort to demonize the LGBT community.

Of course the Conservative National Review, which was founded by William F. Buckley, saw proposition 1 in another light.

Apple has made no further comment on the matter.

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