Jacksonville on Tuesday became the
latest Florida municipality to approve an ordinance that prohibits
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender
identity.
According to The Florida
Times-Union, the ordinance went into effect on Valentine's Day
after Mayor Lenny Curry allowed it to become law without his
signature.
The legislation was first proposed
nearly five years ago.
“I feel really good, not just for
myself but for this city,” Councilman
Tommy Hazouri told the Times-Union.
“It speaks to the very heart of what our city is about, and when
tomorrow's historians write about Jacksonville, their retrospect now
is going to be a shining new chapter.”
Small businesses with fewer than 15
employees are exempt from the law's workplace protections, while
religious organizations are entirely exempt. A religious
organization might include a school, emergency shelter or hospital
run by a church.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the
nation's largest LGBT rights group, called the exemptions
“troubling.”
“This new ordinance misses the mark
by singling out LGBTQ people for fewer protections than any other
protected group,” HRC National Field Director Marty Rouse said in a
statement. “Progress shouldn't come at the sacrifice of full and
equal protections under the law.”