Carrollton Leaders Consider Anti-Discrimination Ordinance To Protect City LGBTQ Employees
Carrollton City Council Approves Anti-Discrimination Ordinance To Protect City LGBTQ Employees
CARROLLTON (CBSDFW.COM) - Tonight, the City of Carrollton is considering an ordinance that would shield city employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Longtime Carrollton resident Bob McCraine believes this is the next step for Carrollton when it comes to equality for all. He shared his personal story and how the city has progressed over the years.
"I was singled out for being a gay guy in Carrollton," McCraine said.
He said he first started experiencing this more than a decade ago when he started receiving hate mail after assisting in a mayor's race.
"Some of the hate mail was that since 'I disrupted the elections I would pay,' " McCraine said. "When you get a Facebook message that says 'I'm going to kill you,' that sort of thing is wrong. You shouldn't have to live with it."
He said as society has progressed, Carrollton has too.
"Now, we have openly gay employees," he said.
He believes the next step is for them to be better protected.
Carrollton City Council is considering either a policy, ordinance or charter amendment to protect from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It would apply to city employees, contractors and political appointees.
"An ordinance would be great, but a charter amendment would be better," McCraine said.
Rafael McDonnell with Resource Center, a LGBTQ resource organization, said if city leaders want to draw new business this is needed.
"To a certain extent I think businesses are driving this," McDonnell said.
"We can win incrementally," McCraine said. "Let's get the protections that we need for today and work on the protections that we can get for tomorrow."
Tonight's council meeting starts at 7 p.m.
We reached out to the council members to see where they stand on this, but so far have not heard back from any. At the end of the meeting there will be time for open comment, where the public can give their thoughts.
