After some fine-tuning, council members voted last week to move forward an anti-discrimination ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The ordinance, applicable to employment, housing and public accommodation, would establish a Human Relations Commission to mediate disputes.
The ordinance was bumped back to the Public Safety Committee, which decided to lower the number of commissioners to five, based on concerns that filling nine positions might present difficulty, and to include an expanded procedures option, allowing the borough council and the commission to seek additional funding for dispute resolution. The Public Safety Committee also decided to put appointments in the hands of the borough council alone, rather than the mayor and the council.
The new draft will now go to the borough solicitor, and it will be scheduled for a public hearing.
11 other cities and counties in Pennsylvania have passed ordinances that include gender identity, including Allentown, Easton, Erie County, Harrisburg, Lansdowne, New Hope, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Swarthmore and York.
I note that, as mentioned in a previous blog, a federal district court in Pennsylvania found that Title VII covers transgender employees. Mitchell v. Axcan Scandipharm, Inc., Slip Copy, 2006 WL 456173 W.D.Pa.,2006. Feb 17, 2006.
