Title
Resolution of Opposition to the Establishment of Any State-wide Discriminatory Laws by Constitutional Amendment or Legislation
Staff
Prepared by: Mary Joan Fales, Senior Assistant City Attorney
Body
Whereas, It is the intent of the City Council that no individual be denied equal protection of the laws or be discriminated against because of actual or perceived gender expression or gender identity;
Whereas, The City Council has enacted Chapter 112 of the Ann Arbor City Code which prohibits any person from discriminating in making available full and equal access to all privileges and accommodation of any place of public accommodation;
Whereas, As of October 2015, forty Michigan cities had adopted protections against discrimination based on a least one of the following sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression;
Whereas, The State of North Carolina has recently adopted a law which excludes both sexual orientation and gender identity from state antidiscrimination protections and explicitly supersedes any local government in North Carolina from passing antidiscrimination rules to grant protections to gay and transgender persons;
Whereas, Other states and cities, including Tennessee, are currently debating adoption of discriminatory legislation that would single out groups of individuals;
Whereas, State Rep. Tim Kelly and others have proposed a state constitutional amendment to eliminate the State Board of Education and make the state Superintendent of Public Instruction a gubernatorial appointee in the wake of the State Board of Education's guidelines proposed to protect the safety and well-being of LGBTQ students;
Whereas, It is concerning that this nation continues to debate the extension of basic rights to all persons; and
Whereas, Discrimination of this type is in opposition to long-held public policies of the City of Ann Arbor;
RESOLVED, That the Ann Arbor City Council oppose any state constitutional amendmen...
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