Ordinance banning gay bias revived (in Indianapolis)

[Thom Little]

Seven months after a proposal to ban discrimination against gays in the workplace and housing market failed to pass the City-County Council, supporters reintroduced the measure Monday night. The proposal could put the council back in the spotlight by addressing a divisive issue just a week after efforts to merge city and county police forces failed in a mostly partisan vote.

Jackie Nytes, the Democrat who also sponsored the first gay-rights effort in April, now has 12 sponsors, including herself. She would need three more votes to win a 15-vote majority in the 29-member council and hopes to land those through steady lobbying over the next few weeks.

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Current laws protect all workers from discrimination based on race, religion, age and several other factors. The anti-discrimination ordinance would protect gay and transgendered people from being fired or denied housing because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

City and state employee hiring policies already include such protections, and the ordinance would extend the same to any businesses with six or more employees, excluding religious institutions and certain nonprofits. In Indiana, Bloomington, Michigan City, West Lafayette and Fort Wayne already have passed similar ordinances.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051122/NEWS02/511220492