From the Metro Weekly--
On Tuesday [September 26, 2017], after nearly a decade of planning and a public hearing, the Birmingham City Council passed a nondiscrimination ordinance that prohibits discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The fully inclusive ordinance passed on a unanimous 7-0 vote, with 2 Council members absent. The ordinance now goes to Mayor William Bell, a Democrat, who has promised to sign it into law.
The ordinance also protects people from discriminating based on a person’s real or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or familial status, and creates a Human Rights Commission that will take complaints from citizens and advise city leaders on how best to resolve those complaints.
“Today is a monumental victory for everyone who lives and works in Birmingham, who are now fully protected from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations,” Alex Smith, the executive director of Equality Alabama, said in a statement. “No one should be discriminated against because of who they are or whom they love, and Birmingham took action today to ensure that.”
In a follow-up interview with Metro Weekly, Smith noted that his organization had worked closely with the Human Rights Campaign, Equality Federation, and other advocates to carefully craft the ordinance in a way that it would comply with Alabama law.
See full story here.
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