Nashville Mayor Karl Dean says he sign
a bill that extends the city's gay protections to contractors, The
Tennessean reported.
In 2009, Dean signed into law a bill
that bans employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and
gender identity by the Metro government.
Metro Nashville is the governing body
of the City of Nashville and Davidson County. The pair merged in
1963.
“Nashville is known as a welcoming
and friendly city and as a city that doesn't discriminate,” Dean
said in a statement. “The idea of requiring companies that do
business with the city to adopt a nondiscrimination policy similar to
our own makes sense.”
Metro Council is expected to hold a
second of three required votes on the proposed measure on Tuesday but
a third vote won't come until March.
During the council's February 1
meeting, Mike Jameson, who along with Jamie Hollin and Erica Gilmore
introduced the legislation, was called out of order when he attempted
to explain the main grievance, as he saw it, of the bill's opponents
– that being gay is a choice.
“That crux is the belief that
homosexuality is a choice,” Jameson told the council. “And I
submit to you and ask for you to consider in explicit terms over the
next two weeks whether or not that is in fact the case. Explore that
issue with your friends, with your neighbors, with your constituents
who are of the gay and lesbian community and ask them. Did they wake
up one morning and decide to be gay. I would submit to you that the
answer is no. That is not a choice.”
The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
said in a letter that more time is needed to study how the bill would
affect businesses.