City takes first step to ban discrimination on sexual orientation
The City of St. Augustine could be taking an extra step toward stopping discrimination.
During Monday’s city commissionmeeting, the commission voted to add sexual orientation to the list of reasons that people cannot be denied housing in the city.
The issue was raised during a workshop on fair housing.
At Monday’s meeting, Commissioner Errol Jones recommended that the city’s Fair Housing Ordinance should have the added protection for citizens of any sexual orientation.
The motion was then approved by the commission by a vote of 4-0. Mayor Joe Boles did not attend the meeting.
The city’s current ordinance bans discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin or handicap.
Monday’s action was the first step in the process to amend the city’s current ordinance.
First, City Attorney Ron Brown and his staff will draft an ordinance and present it to the commission. The prospect of changing the ordinance was not on the meeting’s agenda, and Brown said he’s just getting started on the issue.
“We’ll have an ordinance in the near future,” he said Tuesday. “We have some drafting to do. It’s fairly simple in adding sexual orientation to the protected (classifications).”
Brown said the new ordinance, if adopted, will provide more protection to St. Augustine residents than current federal or state laws do.
The new ordinance will likely have its first reading in late September or early October, Brown said.
That will be followed by a second reading in which the public will be allowed to comment. Then the commission will take a final vote on the ordinance.
