Prominent evangelist Franklin Graham has praised the city of Houston after the controversial "Equal Rights Ordinance" was defeated at the ballot box. Critics of the ordinance said would have allowed men to use women's restrooms if enacted.



As reported by the Gospel Herald, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, or HERO, was put to the referendum as Proposition 1 in the nation's fourth largest city earlier this week and lost with 62 percent of voters rejecting it.



According to Fox News, HERO expanded antidiscrimination laws regarding businesses and public facilities to include sexual orientation and gender identity.



"This outrageous referendum would've left women's restrooms wide open to registered male sex offenders and other sexual predators," Graham wrote in a Facebook post after congratulating Houston citizens for defeating the ordinance.



"In spite of high-profile endorsements from the White House, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and Houston's gay activist mayor-this outrageous referendum lost," the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse continued.



"That's a victory and great news for Houston!" he added. "I applaud those who worked so hard to oppose this proposition...Voters and leaders at all levels across America need to take note that these battles are worth fighting for the sake of the future of our nation."

