First-term Yardley Councilman David Bria is introducing an ordinance containing what might become Bucks’ first municipal protections against discrimination since 2013.
Council members will vote on advertising the ordinance at their meeting Tuesday evening and might give their final approval later this month.
Bria’s proposal, modeled after an existing code in Doylestown Borough, would create a three- to five-person Yardley Human Relations Commission. The commission members would receive and handle complaints from borough residents alleging discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations or access to educational institutions.
The ordinance’s scope covers discrimination based on an individual’s race, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, use of support animals or mechanical aids, whether “actual or perceived” — a qualifying phrase Bria said will help the borough protect the “shades of gray” on the spectrum of identity.
“The idea out there is that if the discrimination is related at all to the way someone identifies their sexual identity or gender identity, they would be protected,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how they identify but if it’s related to how ... we want to cast a broad net so there aren’t loopholes with this label or that label.”
Bria, who is gay, said he has personally not heard of any such discrimination taking place in Yardley, a 2,434-resident borough, or its surrounding municipalities. Rather, he said, his ordinance is to lock in a protection not yet afforded to LGBTQ individuals under state or federal law.
Bria said he’s spoken to many people, including borough residents and fellow council members, who were surprised to learn these levels of government do not already protect LGBTQ citizens.
“A lot of people, when they realized there were no protections, they were supportive (at the municipal level),” he said.
The state’s Human Relations Act currently prohibits discrimination in the same areas as Bria’s ordinance, like housing and employment, but does not include sexual orientation or gender identity as protected categories.
Listen to this podcast: Dave Bria Talks About Anti-discrimination Ordinances; http://www.johnmacknewtown.info/briapodcast1.html
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