By the end of the month, Kentucky’s capital could become the fifth city in the state to adopt a fairness ordinance barring discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Frankfort City Commission on Monday gave a first reading to the ordinance, which would bar discrimination in such areas as housing, finance and employment. It would add to existing anti-discrimination provisions based on race, color, religion, national origin, familial status, age, disability or sex.
The new ordinance would also be Kentucky’s first to incorporate language into the ordinance saying that people motivated by religion would have legal protections equal to that of House Bill 279, which the General Assembly approved earlier this year over Gov. Steve Beshear’s veto. If a person discriminated against a gay person based on a sincere religious belief, the ordinance would require the government to prove it had a compelling interest in enforcing the law and had no less restrictive way of implementing it.
Mayor Bill May said a majority of commissioners have spoken in favor of the measure. “It’s a great first step and a great improvement. I also think that folks that have reservations about it will find it will not impede on their lives as much as they may fear.”
It is scheduled for a final vote Aug. 26.
The commission had already given a first reading to an earlier version, but due to numerous revisions it gave another on Monday.
Chris Hartman of the Fairness Coalition had lobbied against House Bill 279. But Hartman said of the language in the ordinance:
“If reiterating Kentucky’s religious freedom language, applicable to every law in the commonwealth, made opponents more comfortable with the passage of Frankfort’s Fairness ordinance, we were open to its inclusion. Again, while we opposed House Bill 279 for its potential abuses, we foresee it having little to no effect on a Fairness law like the one being proposed in the capital.”
Earlier this year, the Perry County city of Vicco joined Louisville, Lexington and Covington in implementing fairness ordinances.
