Midway, Kentucky (population just under 1700) has become the eighth Kentucky city to pass a fairness ordinance prohibiting discrmination in housing, employment and public accommodation that specifically includes gender identity and sexual orientation among its protected groups.
Details below the fold...
As the Lexington Herald-Leader reports:
MIDWAY — This Woodford County city on Monday became the eighth in the state to adopt an ordinance prohibiting discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
With 4-2 passage of the ordinance by the city council, Midway joined Lexington, Louisville, Covington, Danville, Frankfort, Morehead and Vicco in Perry County as cities with similar ordinances.
Midway, with a population of 1,656, is the second-smallest city in Kentucky to pass an anti-bias ordinance. (Vicco has 320 people, according to the latest census estimate.)
When asked "why are we doing this?", the mayor's reply was succinct:
Vandegrift said he proposed the ordinance after he learned that a person could be fired from a job, evicted from a residence or denied public service because he or she is gay or transgender.
"That seems wrong to me," Vandegrift said. "But if you're asking me why we're doing this, I brought it up, it survived committee, it's here at second reading and we're about to vote on it."
WKYT points out that the city council moved to distance themselves from the various Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) controversies in the process of bringing the city's ordinance forward, by specifically removing a general exemption for religious belief:
The decision comes just months after a council committee began working on the draft ordinance. In April, the council committee removed "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" (RFRA) language from the draft ordinance and the full city council held a public forum on the issue in early May. A dozen Midway residents spoke in favor of the proposed ordinance at the forum, while only one member of the community spoke in opposition.
Under the terms of the ordinance, civil penalties for violations can range from $100 to $500, plus attorney's fees and court costs.
So, there you go - another small Kentucky town doing things right.