Springfield City Council could vote tonight on a non-discrimination ordinance expanding protections to the LGBT community. Two bills will be up for consideration at the meeting. The stronger of the two would expand sexual orientation and gender identity in the areas of housing, employment and public accommodations. A bathroom exemption was recently added to that bill. It prohibits the ordinance from applying to any facility that is “distinctly private in nature, such as restrooms, shower rooms, and dressing rooms.”
The revision, if approved, would prevent a person from claiming discrimination if prohibited from using these private facilities.
The substitute bill would offer protections in housing only. It also calls for creating another task force directing the Mayor's Commission on Human Rights and Community Relations to conduct a study on discrimination. Both bills include a religious exemption for housing.
