Following the examples of other major cities, Orlando may extend anti-discrimination protection to transgender people. In the past, transgender protection laws have been too divisive among voters.
However, 15 other Florida cities and governments—including Tampa, Miami, Gainesville, and Palm Beach County—already have such protection.
“I want to see what definitions other cities have used,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said in a Nov. 27 Orlando Sentinel article.
If adopted, the new measure would likely prohibit discrimination based on transgender status or gender expression. This would extend to the workplace, housing and in public accommodations.
This recent move is motivated by Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, who was instrumental in helping pass the 2002 city ordinance that added sexual orientation to protected status. The initial December 2002 proposal once included protection for transgender people. However, that portion of the ordinance was dropped just before the vote, Sheehan then said, because she thought it would cause the measure to fail. The revised ordinance passed city council with a vote of 4-3.
Commissioner Sheehan, who is gay, is now asking Dyer to include the areas initially tabled in 2002. Dyer has said he will direct city lawyers to gather information from other jurisdictions with similar laws.
The 2002 vote remains the most controversial issue to ever come before the council. Thousands of people contacted City Hall through phone, email and letters.
Sheehan has stated she believes these new discussions might be just as divisive and said Tampa’s recent decision to protect transgender people motivated the Orlando council to revisit the issue. Tampa’s council meetings were also filled with very vocal detractors.
The strongest voices against the Tampa ordinance argued that some men might utilize female clothing and the law to enter women’s bathrooms. Charges were also lobbied that the law endangers children. Tampa’s ordinance passed 5-1.
