New measure removes local anti-discrimination protections and shifts complaints to state and federal agencies. The final vote is set for Feb. 24<\/p>\n
ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 The Arlington City Council has voted to repeal its 2021 anti-discrimination ordinance and replace it with a revised version that removes specific local LGBTQ+ protections and shifts enforcement to state and federal agencies.<\/p>\n
The measure passed its first reading on Tuesday. A second reading and final vote is scheduled for Feb. 24.<\/p>\n
The new ordinance eliminates language adopted in 2021 that explicitly protected residents from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It also removes the city\u2019s authority to investigate discrimination complaints locally.<\/p>\n
Under the revised policy, residents who believe they have been discriminated against in housing, employment or public accommodations will be referred to agencies that enforce federal and state laws, including the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.<\/p>\n
Initially, city leaders moved to repeal its original anti-discrimination ordinance, citing concern over potential legal conflicts and the risk of losing federal funding. The council had suspended enforcement of the 2021 ordinance in December while reviewing its legality.<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight\u2019s vote is not about perfection. It\u2019s about responsibility,\u201d Mayor Jim Ross said before the council approved the measure on first reading. \u201cThis ordinance and the resolution reestablish a clear standard that discrimination has no place in Arlington.\u201d<\/p>\n
The council also approved a separate resolution condemning hate and affirming that discrimination is not tolerated in the city.<\/p>\n
Ross and other council members described the revised ordinance as a compromise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have zero tolerance for discrimination,\u201d said councilmember Dr. Barbara Odom-Wesley. \u201cSomething is better than nothing. Even though it\u2019s not my preference, I think this is what we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Critics, including LGBTQ+ advocates, said the revised ordinance strips away meaningful local protections and leaves residents without city-level recourse.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder this ordinance, if someone in this city experiences discrimination in Arlington, the city will not investigate,\u201d Deejay Johannessen, CEO of the HELP Center for LGBT Health & Wellness, told council members during the meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt says we\u2019re not gonna protect anybody. We\u2019re gonna give you a phone number to D.C.,\u201d Johannessen said. \u201cWhat about being denied service or being fired from a job? That happens all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johannessen called the repeal of the 2021 protections a significant setback.<\/p>\n
Councilmember Rebecca Boxall argued the previous ordinance wasn’t enforceable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“No protections were taken away, because the original ordinance did not have any enforcement,” Boxall told Johannessen during the public meeting.<\/p>\n
Johannessen disagreed with her, arguing that if a city investigated and served as the mediator in an alleged discrimination case, that act in itself provided protection on a local level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He worries the community will be at risk under the new shift.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt basically stripped every single man, woman and child of their civil rights here locally, and I never thought they would go there,\u201d Johannesen said. \u201cThat\u2019s not enforcement, that\u2019s not protection. That\u2019s a written admission that this city is stepping away.\u201d<\/p>\n
He rejected the idea that civil rights protections should be negotiated.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things that they said is we had to get to a compromise,\u201d Johannessen said. \u201cNo, we don\u2019t have to compromise away our civil rights. We will continue to fight the fight. That\u2019s what we do. That\u2019s who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
The council is expected to take a final vote on the revised ordinance Feb. 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New measure removes local anti-discrimination protections and shifts complaints to state and federal agencies. The final vote is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151],"class_list":{"0":"post-160954","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arlington","8":"tag-arlington","9":"tag-arlington-headlines","10":"tag-arlington-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160954","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=160954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}