GREENSBORO, N.C. — City Council members in Greensboro, N.C., unanimously passed several new ordinance changes at their meeting on Tuesday, making it the first city in the state to prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination in housing, among other protections.
The city’s move toward more inclusive local policies follows similar proposals and discussion in Charlotte, the state’s largest city, though it has not yet scheduled a vote.
“It says we’re inclusive and welcoming,” Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said of the changes, according to The News & Record. “That’s what we want people to think of when they think of Greensboro.”
The changes in Greensboro include adding sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to a list of enumerated categories in three ordinances — fair housing, city employment and city services.
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“The City of Greensboro prides itself on being open and inclusive for all residents and the changes proposed for Council consideration are designed to further strengthen the City’s efforts to prohibit discrimination,” Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said before the vote in a statement to qnotes on Monday.
The first of the three new ordinance changes prohibit discrimination in the offering of city programs, services or activities.
The second change codifies LGBT-inclusive protections for city employees in the city’s ordinances. By policy, Greensboro already prohibits public employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
The final change alters the city’s fair housing ordinance, adding LGBT-inclusive protections to those meant to prohibit discrimination in the “buying, renting, selling, or advertising of real estate.”
