BATON ROUGE, La. — The East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council has voted 8-4 vote to reject a proposed local law banning discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Baton Rouge Advocate reports the proposal generated weeks of passionate debate about the legal protections for LGBT people in the capital city.

But not long after it was introduced, it became clear that the measure was unlikely to win over a majority of the council Wednesday night.

Ultimately, the council voted 8-4 against the measure.

Council member Ronnie Edwards said she felt the fairness ordinance left out too many groups of people who are also discriminated against, including women, people living in poverty, people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, overweight people and ex-convicts.

Edwards said an ordinance alone would not end discrimination.

Council member John Delgado, who supported the ordinance, said he will actively work to bring the measure before voters.

WAFB-TV has more:

Associated Press contributed to this report.