ND votes against discrimination protection for gays

You don’t often see a bill’s roll call on the front page of the morning paper, but the Fargo Forum went all out today following yesterday’s vote in North Dakota to deny protection to gays.

ND_TF

“I’m concerned that we have missed an opportunity to affirm what North Dakotans already believe, which is that discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation is not acceptable,” Gov. Jack Dalrymple, a Republican, said in a statement.

The bill would have added sexual orientation to state law that currently extends anti-discrimination protection on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical or mental disability or status with respect to marriage or public assistance.

The Forum didn’t editorialize today, but the paper seems to invite voter backlash.