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(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) West Chester is the
newest community in Pennsylvania to prohibit
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression in
housing, employment, and public accommodations.
The community, about 30 miles from Philadelphia,
is home to the West Chester campus of the University of Pennsylvania, with an enrolment
of about 10,000 students, almost as many as the borough itself.
The area has a substantial LGBT community and a
large number of gays gathered as the West Chester Borough
Council voted 6-0 to enact the legislation.
The ordinance also prohibits discrimination on a number of other bases,
including actual or perceived race, color, sex, religion, ancestry, national
origin, familial status, marital status, age and mental or physical disability.
It also provides for the creation of a Human Relations Commission, which will
mediate disputes, and allows individuals whose cases are not resolved by the
Commission to bring their cases to Common Pleas court.
Several community members spoke
in favor of the measure and there was no opposition. When the vote was
taken the audience broke into a round of spontaneous applause.
"At a time when some municipalities are attempting to restrict the
rights of immigrants and other minority groups,
West Chester
’s actions are a beacon of inclusiveness, said Stephen Glassman, chair of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.
West Chester is the first
municipality in Chester County to enact a law protecting members of the LGBT
community, said Center for
Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights attorney Katie Eyer.
Statewide, West Chester
will be the fourteenth municipality to enact local non-discrimination
protections for members of the lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender community.
Pennsylvania has the largest number of local non-discrimination ordinances protecting the
LGBT community of any state that has not yet enacted state-wide LGBT-inclusive
non-discrimination legislation.
©365Gay.com 2006
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