Salt Lake City mayor unveils proposed anti-bias laws
Salt Lake City » Ordinances would bar discrimination against gays in housing and workplace.

By Rosemary Winters
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 10/09/2009 06:41:15 PM MDT

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13525455

Salt Lake City is poised to do what the Utah Legislature refused to earlier this year: Protect gay and transgender residents from discrimination.

On Friday, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker released two proposed ordinances that would outlaw housing and employment discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

"It's first and foremost a human-rights issue," the mayor said. "But it's also an economic-development issue." Businesses, he said, are attracted to Utah's capital because of its "progressive" reputation.

The good, and to me surprising, news is that the city council is expected to approve the laws without much fuss.  The bad news is that the state legislature may attempt to overturn those laws, if enacted.

I wasn't aware that a state legislature could/would interfere with a city's governance in such a way.   

At first I was happy that Utah was defying its stereotype.  But then I got to the rest of the story.