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Beyoncé disappoints by ignoring Houston’s anti-discrimination ordinance

Beyoncé disappoints by ignoring Houston’s anti-discrimination ordinance

At least one Houston man is unhappy with Beyoncé right now.

HuffPo blogger Carlos Maza claims it “kills him” to write it, especially since he’s “spent more time worshiping Beyoncé than just about any other pop star,” but he is incredibly disappointed in the singer, and he’s not sure he’ll ever be able to forgive her.

“Over the past few months,” Maza writes, “Beyoncé has repeatedly refused the opportunity to speak out against the legalization of discrimination against LGBT people in her hometown.”

He’s talking about the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), which prohibited discrimination in matters of housing and employment on the basis of more than a dozen different characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity. On Tuesday, Houston voters choose to repeal that law, effectively legalizing discrimination.

In his nearly 1,500-word rant, Maza calls into question Beyoncé’s alleged support of her LGBTQ fans.

He begins by writing about the time he called upon her to “make a single Instagram post in support of HERO” in a blog post he published back in August.

“With fifty million followers, she has one of the most influential social media presences in the world,” Maza writes. “A single post from her would have motivated young voters to the polls, focused national attention on the fight over HERO, and dramatically reframed the narrative.”

The hashtag #BeyBeAHERO was established to encourage the singer to get involved. It received more than 10 million impressions.

“But despite repeated requests for help from HERO supporters in Houston,” Maza says. “Beyoncé declined to comment.”

Instead, he continues, “I watched her post images from her Vogue cover shoot.”

Over the next several weeks, Maza waited for Beyoncé to post her support of HERO to Instagram.

But the post never came.

“One night, I found myself lying on the grass in a park by my apartment, distraught,” he recalls. “I had done everything I knew how to do to get Beyoncé’s team to react. I had bugged every reporter friend, forwarded every press hit, tweeted incessantly. I had given it my best shot. And I was starting to feel like a failure.”

“On Instagram,” he writes, “I watched Beyoncé post a photo of a pizza.”

When HERO was voted down on Tuesday, Maza says it was “probably one of hardest things I’ve had to experience.”

He was left “devastated,” and that devastation was only made worse by what Beyoncé did next.

“On Instagram, I watched a video of Beyoncé posing silently in front of an American flag,” he writes. “I can’t believe she didn’t say something.”

“Beyoncé had a golden opportunity to oppose an active effort to legalize discrimination against LGBT Houstonians,” he continues. “It wouldn’t have taken more than a single Instagram post.”

“She didn’t.”

Related: Boy Has Wisdom Teeth Removed, Can’t Cope With Beyonce Not Showing Up To Congratulate Him

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