HELP Center for LGBTQ Health<\/a> who was instrumental in getting the city council to pass the original ordinance in 2021 and has been working to get protections reinstated since September, said in a press release supporters are \u201cdeeply disappointed\u201d by the vote.<\/p>\n\u201cThough described as progress, the ordinance fails to provide meaningful local protections and in fact dismantles all of Arlington\u2019s existing anti-discrimination laws,\u201d according to a press release from HELP following the vote.<\/p>\n
The press release explains that the measure approved tonight by the council \u201creplaces Arlington\u2019s duty to protect with a \u2018meet and refer\u2019 model, eliminating the city\u2019s responsibility to investigate or resolve discrimination complaints.\u201d
The ordinance leaves \u201cresidents, workers, visitors and businesses \u2026 without local recourse\u201d and instead directs those who feel they have been discriminated against to \u201coutside agencies that are often overburdened and inaccessible. Every protected class in Arlington loses meaningful local protection under this framework.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new ordinance, according to the press release, \u201climits city involvement to providing a website or phone number to victims of discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johannessen pointed to a statement tonight by Council member Rebecca Boxall, saying that it \u201cunderscores the central problem. She said, \u2018We aren\u2019t taking anything away. The previous ordinance did not have any enforcement, and neither does this one.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cYet she opposed reinstating the prior ordinance because she argued it lacked enforcement,\u201d Johannessen said, \u201cand then voted for one she acknowledges also has none. That contradiction is difficult to reconcile.\u201d<\/p>\n
The HELP press release notes that \u201cDespite repeated explanations, Boxall disregarded that the prior ordinance\u2019s enforcement mechanisms that require the city manager to conduct investigations, require participation by the alleged violator, facilitate mediation and issue formal written findings. Enforcement does not require a monetary fine. Aaccountability, participation and documented findings are enforcement mechanisms.<\/p>\n
After thanking \u201ceveryone who has come out to the council meetings over the past five months,\u201d Johannessen said, \u201cWe call on everyone who cares about fairness and accountability to contact your councilmember and join us at the Feb. 24 meeting, when the final vote is scheduled. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. We need our voices heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cThe only practical difference between leaving the prior ordinance suspended and passing this one is that victims will now be handed a phone number to Washington, D.C.,\u201d suggesting that \u201cthe absence of sufficient votes to pass a meaningful ordinance raises serious questions about the priorities actually driving this debate. Arlington deserves an anti-discrimination ordinance that works in practice and a council that recognizes the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Tammye Nash<\/p>\n
\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Arlington City Council tonight (Tuesday, Feb. 10) approved a proposed anti-discrimination ordinance that, many believe, in effect…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,1673,152,151,41097,65555,1183,65556],"class_list":{"0":"post-159568","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arlington","8":"tag-arlington","9":"tag-arlington-city-council","10":"tag-arlington-headlines","11":"tag-arlington-news","12":"tag-deejay-johannessen","13":"tag-discrimination-ordinance","14":"tag-lgbtq","15":"tag-meet-and-refer"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DeeJay-Johannessen.jpg\")
HELP Center for LGBTQ Wellness CEO DeeJay Johannessen<\/p>\n