DAYTON, Tenn., March 19 (UPI) -- A local Tennessee commission has backed down from a plan to ban homosexuals from its county lines, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.
The eight-member Rhea County commission had voted Tuesday to ban gays and lesbians from the community, but Thursday the commission rescinded the measure.
The retraction was a response to a global outpouring of criticism and mockery.
The flap reminded critics of the clash between Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan over evolution 79 years.
After the vote, which lasted less than five minutes, the commissioners hurried away from the courthouse, leaving a crowd of about 60 milling around.
One local man, who opposed the proposal, said the damage has been done: Rhea County, he said, is a "laughingstock."
"They kicked a hornet's nest," said Jerry Morgan, 58, a house painter. "They think they can say a few words and the hornets will go away. But the hornets are in the air."
