Voters in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, yesterday voted overwhelmingly to keep a wide-ranging LGBTQ non-discrimination ordinance that was approved by the city council in February.
“If there was any question, that vote margin sealed the deal right there: 71 to 29 percent, that left no uncertainty about how Eureka Springs feels about civil rights,” said James Devito, a city alderman.
But the ordinance will likely be moot on July 20, when a new statewide law goes into effect banning municipalities from enacting non-discrimination measures that exceed protections offered by the state. Arkansas does not include sexual orientation or gender identity in state non-discrimination laws.
