Huntington residents protested West Virginia Del. John Mandt’s vote for a bill that would allow businesses to discriminate against the LGBTQ community, Feb. 16, at Stewart’s Hotdogs on Fifth Avenue, as Mandt owns the business. 

A local from Huntington, Jessie Maynard, helped organize the protest against Mandt at Stewart’s Hotdogs.

“We feel that the way he has been voting against sexual orientation and sexual identity into the human rights act is inherently homophobic and transphobic, and that is not an acceptable West Virginia value,” Maynard said. “We are out here to let his customers know that he supports that sort of bigotry.”

Other locals said they are not surprised because they believe it is just part of Mandt manner to vote for something like discrimination. 

“He is just not a nice guy,” Huntington resident Bobby Lee Messer said. “I have had personal interaction with him, and I think he is a jerk to begin with. If you look at his voting history and what he has voted on and statements he made pre-election, it is very clear he is not for the people.” 

Madalyn McCoy can be contacted at [email protected].