ABOVE: The City of Westlake, photo via the city’s Facebook page.
WESTLAKE, Fla. | The Westlake City Council unanimously passed a Westlake Civil Rights Ordinance (WCRO) to protect LGBTQ residents May 11 by virtual vote, a first in the state of Florida.
Westlake is Palm Beach County’s newest and smallest municipality, with 531 registered voters and a city council of five. According to the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC), plans exist to add 4,500 homes, 2 million square feet of commercial space and more, making it the “fastest growing city in Florida.”
The PBCHRC was founded in 1988 and touts itself as Florida’s oldest, independent, nonpartisan, political organization dedicated to ending LGBTQ discrimination. They proposed the city’s WCRO as a part of their “Palm Beach County: You’re Welcome!” campaign.
The WCRO will take effect June 11 following a final reading. It will prohibit discrimination throughout Westlake in employment, housing and public accommodations based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, as well as race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, familial status, pregnancy, marital status or genetic information.
“The U.S. Congress and the Florida Legislature have failed to enact any civil rights laws protecting gay, lesbian and gender nonconforming individuals,” PBCHRC President and Founder Rand Hoch shared in a statement. “Therefore, the responsibility to prohibit discrimination rests on the elected officials in Florida’s counties and municipalities.”
PBCHRC Board Member Tamara Sager detailed the organization’s efforts and stressed the importance of the WCRO during the city council’s virtual session, held via the video conference platform Webex. She subsequently addressed its passage in a statement.
“While our country is on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, Westlake City Council Members found no reason to delay moving forward with the civil rights ordinance,” she reflected. “That shows true leadership.”
“The enactment of the Westlake Civil Rights Ordinance will help attract more homeowners to our city,” Vice Mayor Katrina Long-Robinson added. “In addition, the ordinance will help bring jobs, revenue and resources to Westlake.”
The PBCHRC also celebrated the victory via social media, thanking Sager and Long-Robinson for addressing the city council in the name of equality:
Westlake joins a growing number of Florida municipalities which have enacted LGBTQ-inclusive civil rights ordinances and policies, including Orlando, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Tallahassee, Tampa and more. Late last month, the neighboring Boynton Beach voted to make city-owned restrooms gender neutral in another victory.
“Sadly, 55 counties and 381 municipalities in Florida have no laws protecting LGBTQ Floridians from discrimination,” Hoch also noted. “A great deal of work on civil rights remains to be done in the Sunshine State.”
For more information about the PBCHRC, visit their website.
