OGDEN -- City Attorney Gary Williams has received the green light to begin drafting a municipal ordinance prohibiting housing and employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Language for the ordinance was a topic of discussion during a 90-minute meeting Friday involving the administration, city council leaders and Equality Utah, a Salt Lake City organization that aims to secure equal rights and protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Utahns and their families.
Brandie Balken, executive director of Equality Utah, said she was pleased with the meeting and expects draft language of the ordinance to be ready for city council review within three weeks.
"It was quite a productive meeting," she said. "It's definitely our intention to work with local governments to have an ordinance that represents the best policy for each municipality."
Equality Utah wants the city council to adopt a binding anti-discrimination ordinance instead of a resolution that would not be enforceable.
In addition to Balken and Williams, others who attended Friday's meeting included Mayor Matthew Godfrey, City Council Chairwoman Caitlin K. Gochnour and Neil Garner, the council's vice chairman.
Godfrey agreed with Balken that the meeting was productive. Gochnour and Garner could not be reached for comment.
Discussions during Friday's meeting involved the city's possibly adding language to the ordinance specifying that regulation would apply only to landlords and would not prevent tenants from freely associating with whomever they choose as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, said Balken.
"Equality Utah absolutely stands for First Amendment protection," she said.
The city is also looking at adding an exemption to the ordinance for tenants who share common living spaces, said Williams, adding that the final language of the regulation could also include other changes.
James Humphreys, of Ogden, first presented a proposed anti-discrimination ordinance to the city council in April. His proposal is patterned after ordinances in effect in Salt Lake City, Park City, Logan, West Valley, Taylorsville, Murray, Moab, Salt Lake County, Summit County and Grand County.
The proposal would prevent companies with more than 15 employees from taking job actions, such as hiring or firing, based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
It also prevents landlords who own more than four rental units from terminating, accepting or denying rental agreements on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Humphreys said he is frustrated that the administration seems to still be stalling on drafting the ordinance.
The ordinance has certain exemptions built in for religious and other organizations and could carry fines for violations based on city code.
Equality Utah would facilitate efforts to educate residents, landlords, business owners and officials with the Ogden Justice Court, where violations would be adjudicated, about the ordinance, Balken said.
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