Cleveland anit-discrimination law protects transgender

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Posted by Administrator in Politics on November 30, 2009  |  0 Comments More from this author  |

Cleveland's anti-discrimination laws will grow to protect transgender citizens under an ordinance passed Monday by City Council.

Existing city codes prohibit businesses from denying jobs or housing to citizens for reasons of age, race, religion or sexual orientation.

Activists in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community had lobbied for more than a year to include gender identity and expression.

The unanimous vote was the latest step the council has taken to demonstrate a more tolerant atmosphere -- one that helped the city land the 2014 Gay Games, an international competition.

"It's taken some work," said David Caldwell of Ask Cleveland, an LGBT rights group. His organization spent weeks solidifying support from fence-sitting council members.

Councilman Joe Santiago introduced the ordinance last year, about the same time that the council began considering a domestic partner registry that allows same- and opposite-sex couples to declare a relationship without marriage.

The registry passed by a 13-7 vote.

Read more at Cleveland.com