Dallas City Council OK’s adding transgender protections to anti-bias ordinance

[iKate]

Dallas City Council OK's adding transgender protections to anti-bias ordinance
Source: http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/2015/11/dallas-city-council-unanimously-oks-adding-transgender-protections-to-anti-bias-ordinance.html/
By Robert Wilonsky Published: November 10, 2015 11:56 am

Chapter 46 of the Dallas City Code, which was passed in May 2002, makes it illegal to discriminate against someone based on sexual orientation. The ordinance, which applies to everything from employment to housing, has defined sexual orientation as "an individual's real or perceived orientation as heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual or an individual's real or perceived gender identity." Which means that for 13 years, the transgender community has been protected in the city of Dallas.

But this morning, the council went the extra step by separating sexual orientation from gender identity. The council voted unanimously on the amendment, which now reads, "It is the policy of the city of Dallas to bring about through fair, orderly, and lawful procedures the opportunity for every person to obtain employment, access to all places of public accommodation, and housing, without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity and expression."

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[iKate]

I like Texas, I would so live there but the stupid laws and bigotry turn me off.

That said, I am glad that some people are with us.

[RobynD]

I predict this will all follow the same sort of path that marriage equality did. Blue/Liberal states will lead as many of them do. (Mine included, Oregon) and Red states will have special interest groups that use this "culture war" to raise money to pad their pockets, playing off the fear and bigotry in people. I guess it makes jobs in think tanks and political groups. That Josh Duggar guy had a petty cushy job lobbying for the "Family Research Council"

There will be some Houston-like ballot measures to turn back rights or to head off those darn sociaL liberals. Some of those will pass and those hate groups will claim "a win for morality". They will be challenged and the courts will invalidate them, possibly based on on something as simple as the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

I'm Optimistic.

[Eva Marie]

As a former long time resident of the DFW area I can say good for Dallas.

I also think that this is a bit of a poke in the eye at Houston - the people that run Dallas know what is good for business and they hope to take some business away from Houston.

[Lyric]

I live in the Dallas area and have all my life. I really run into very little prejudice about alternative gender matters here these days. You see males wearing long hair, earrings-- even skirts as much here as in many other big city areas and there are many active TG-related groups here, as well as great therapists and physicians involved with TG matters. The things that make the national news about bigoted politicians and school official and such are the exceptions, though certainly cause for shame. One reason I've stayed in Texas is that it needs people like me to help counter those forces of boneheaded evil that seem to permeate the regional governments.

Something less known about Dallas, though, is that it has long been a very progressive city with regard to gays. It's had a large gay community that dates back to the early oil boom days when gay men were preferred as service personnel to cater to the neuvo rich. Transgenders in the region probably only occur in the same numbers as anywhere, but the association of gay with TG as a social issue has benefited us considerably.