Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Bloomington Council Approves Transgender Rights

The Bloomington City Council tonight gave final approval to a revised human rights ordinance which includes protection from discrimination on the basis of "gender identity" according to Fox59 News. Bloomington added "sexual orientation" to its human rights ordinance nearly 10 years ago. With the approval of the new ordinance, Bloomington becomes the second community in Indiana to include protection against discrimination for transgender persons. Indianapolis became the first when it enacted its HRO earlier this year.

The city of South Bend is once again taking up consideration of a proposal to add both "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to its human rights ordinance. A proposal there has lingered for more than two years despite several hearings by the common council and the urging of many local citizens and organizations, including South Bend Equality. A new proposal was introduced this week by Councilor Charlotte Pfeiffer, which appears to have the support of a majority of the city's common council. South Bend Mayor Stephen Luecke also supports the proposal.

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