CHARLOTTE: City Council Rejects LGBT Rights Bill In 6-5 Vote Even After Stripping Transgender Restroom Protections

On the slim upside, we saw some real heroes tonight - both at the speakers' podium and in City Councilwoman Lawana Mayfield.

UPDATE: The Charlotte Observer reports:

After its most contentious meeting in years, Charlotte City Council voted down the most controversial bill they have considered in years, an amended nondiscrimination ordinance that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to protected categories. The bill failed 6 to 5, with both supporters and opponents of the original bill voting against it. Council members voted to remove the section of the ordinance that would have allowed transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with. That issue drew the most vigorous opposition from dozens of speakers. “All over the world, there are restrooms for men and restrooms for women,” said council member Ed Driggs, a Republican. “It does not place an unreasonable burden on them and it does not stigmatize them.”

RELATED: In the clip below the Charlotte Observer recaps some of tonight's most virulently anti-gay speakers including Pastor Flip Benham. Also featured in the clip is Richard Pope, the douchecanoe who began the day by brandishing the below sign outside of the building.

UPDATE II: The Charlotte Observer has posted a second clip featuring excerpts from supporters of the ordinance.

Christian School Bans Eight Year-Old Over "Unbiblical" Tomboy Appearance

A Christian grade school in Virginia says than an eight year-old tomboy cannot come back to class  until she looks like a girl as they do not condone "sexual immorality." The school claims that the child's manner of dress was confusing other students.

Sunnie Kahle likes teddy bears and colorful bracelets, but for the most part she's interested in things that might be considered "boy hobbies." "Sunnie realizes she's a female, but she wants to do boy things," said Doris Thompson, Kahle's great-grandmother and legal guardian. "She wants to play rough and tough." The issue caught the attention of administrators at Timberlake Christian School, where Kahle was a student. Elementary principal Becky Bowman sent home a letter last month, reminding Thompson of the school's religious affiliation and it's right to refuse students who contradict a "biblical lifestyle." "We believe that unless Sunnie and her family clearly understand that God has made her female and her dress and behavior need to follow suit with her God-ordained identity, that TCS is not the best place for her future education," Bowman wrote in the letter, which was given to WDBJ7 by Thompson. Thompson said she was offended by the letter's language and its references to biblical passages about sexual immorality.

Thompson adds that her great-granddaughter is too young to understand concepts like sexual orientation or gender identity. But should Sunnie grow up to be lesbian or transgender, Thompson vows, "I will love her that much more."