Salt Lake County Considers Nondiscrimination Ordinance

[Shana A]

Salt Lake County Considers Nondiscrimination Ordinance

12.14.2009 by Elizabeth Ziegler

http://kcpw.org/blog/local-news/2009-12-14/salt-lake-county-considers-nondiscrimination-ordinance/

(KCPW News) Tomorrow, the Salt Lake County Council will consider a nondiscrimination ordinance modeled after the ones recently passed by Salt Lake City. It would protect gay and transgender residents against workplace and housing discrimination. Democratic Council Chairman Joe Hatch says the ordinance will likely be passed unanimously, though there is some concern about exemptions for small businesses and some landlords that are included in the proposal.

"The question is how broad and how narrowly those are defined. And I think there is some tension. These are defined very broadly," Hatch says. "That I think makes some liberals including myself a little uncomfortable because they're a little broader, but I'm willing to compromise on this point."

[Allamakee]

Salt Lake County approves anti-bias laws
Deseret News
by Arthur Raymond
Dec. 16, 2009

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705351724/SL-Co-approves-anti-bias-laws.html

...Salt Lake County followed in the footsteps of its largest city Tuesday in passing, unanimously, two new laws that create protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

<snip>

A Deseret News/KSL-TV poll conducted last month showed there is wide support for a statewide statute like the ones passed by the capital city and Salt Lake County. The poll, which has a 5 percent margin of error, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, indicated some 69 percent of Utahns would support state level protections. And, like the bipartisan support reflected by the council votes in Salt Lake City and the county, a majority of both Republicans and Democrats polled voiced support — the Democrats at 84 percent and Republicans at 61 percent.

All statute changes in Salt Lake County must pass two rounds of voting before being ratified. The new anti-discrimination proposal will be up for a final vote in January.