The Arlington City Council. on Tuesday night, June 15, approved second readings to amend an ordinance banning discrimination in housing to specifically protect LGBTQ people and to adopt a new ordinance banning discrimination in employment and public accommodations that also includes LGBTQ people.
The vote was unanimous. The ordinance banning discrimination in employment and public accommodations on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity is the city’s first ordinance addressing such discrimination against any group, according to DeeJay Johannessen, CEO of the HELP Center for LGBT Health and Wellness and an activist who has been working with the city staff for several