Nashville's plan to extend the city's
gay protections to contractors has received its second OK, The
Tennessean reported.
In 2009, Nashville Mayor Karl 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.
The Metro Council is now considering
requiring companies that do business with the city to adopt a similar
nondiscrimination policy.
With a 21 to 16 vote, the proposed
measure received its second okay last Tuesday. A third and final
vote is expected in March.
“We want to communicate that we're
for equality,” said Councilwoman Erica Gilmore, a sponsor of the
bill. “We want to make sure we're always basing things on
performance and talent.”
Councilman Jim Hodge suggested the
protections would amount to an endorsement of being gay: “Jesus
said it. Love your neighbor. He didn't say endorse their
lifestyle.”
The bill's primary sponsor, Councilman
Mike Jameson, took on his critics.
“To hear one of my colleagues tonight
argue that it's only a small percentage of people that are gay or
lesbian, and to suggest that because the minority is such a minority,
they don't deserve protections, flies in the face of what the spirit
of this legislation should be,” Jameson said.
Dean said two weeks ago that he would
sign the bill if approved by lawmakers because it “makes sense.”