The same day that Manatee County celebrated its first LGBT Pride, the county’s Human Rights Ordinance committee drafted a petition on Change.com to encourage commissioners to protect LGBTs from discrimination.
The ordinance, posted March 22, encourages the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners to create an HRO to protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The group wants at least 200 signatures to present to the commission.
The HRO would establish civil rights that would prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations in all of Manatee County, for gays, lesbians and transgender residents.
“Currently, neither Manatee County nor any of the six municipalities in Manatee County provide basic civil rights anti-discrimination legal protections in employment, housing, or public accommodations for LGBT people, active duty, Reserve, or National Guard military personnel, or veterans of the armed forces,” the petition reads.
The HRO that the Manatee HRO Committee is requesting is similar to ones that have been established in other Florida counties, like Pinellas, Orange and Volusia
