Initiative-meister Tim Eyman provided his political foes with an obvious rejoinder Tuesday. There he was in Olympia, conceding that Referendum 65, one of the measures he was pushing for next November’s general election, didn’t get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. “Let The Voters Decide,” read his blue and yellow T-shirt.

The people decided, all right, many of Eyman’s critics and adversaries were pleased to confirm. Namely, by shunning his signature-gatherers, the public refused to help Eyman rescind an overdue Washington state law that prohibits discrimination against gays and lesbians in employment, housing, lending and insurance.

Although it’s disheartening that more than 105,000 Washingtonians did put their names on Eyman’s mean-spirited petitions, that wasn’t enough to expose Substitute House Bill 2661 to the possibility of repeal. Human rights advocates who have worked for this kind of legislation for 29 years took understandable satisfaction. Eyman’s shortfall meant that SHB 2661, finally passed by the Legislature this year and eagerly signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire, could take effect on Wednesday as scheduled.

If backers of the legislation chortled over Eyman’s disappointment, they were entitled.

But true believers in equality should go a step further and repudiate Eyman’s misleading campaign motto. “Let The Voters Decide” is a charade. If Referendum 65 had really been about invoking voter sovereignty, Eyman had a lengthy list of 2006 legislative enactments to second-guess. But only one of them breaks down barriers that prevent gays and lesbians from participating in community life on an equal footing with others. And that’s the one Eyman attacked. Referendum 65 was an attempt to resurrect the barriers, and the failure of the petition drive reflects a gratifying unwillingness by Washingtonians to condone discrimination.

What’s even more important to remember, though, is that handing out human rights is not a role for voters any more than for kings and emperors. As the Declaration of Independence recognizes, human rights aren’t granted by political authorities, they are universal entitlements.

Tyrants, even voters, may violate those rights or protect them, but they can’t bestow them and they can’t cancel them. The rights are simply there, inherent and unalienable.

Washington state law finally acknowledges that self-evident truth, although it would be premature to relax.

Eyman probably won’t be the last person to hitch bigotry to the majority-trumps-all strategy. Washingtonians must be on guard against future attempts, and they must be ready to respond with the same kind of respect for human dignity that most of them displayed this year.

As the philosopher Paul Woodruff has pointed out, it’s not democracy if you feel you need to be part of the majority to be free.