A.G. Gancarski
On the heels of Bill Gulliford’s bill pushing for an HRO expansion referendum, Councilman Tommy Hazouri filed a bill on Thursday to expand the HRO to cover the LGBT community.
The Hazouri bill would expand equal protections under the law, including housing and employment, as well as public accommodations, to people regardless of sexual orientation (real or perceived), gender identity, or gender expression.
In filing the bill, Hazouri’s office issued a prepared statement decrying the Gulliford bill, saying that a “referendum would lead to months and months of hateful rhetoric that would fully divide our city. Outside groups on both sides would come in with staff, and money would pour in from outside sources.
“All this would do is divide and cause ruin to a city that [Hazouri] grew up in, loves, and has served in,” the statement continued.
“Like the majority of other major cities in the country that have put this issue behind them, that’s what you want to do … as it should have been done four years ago,” the statement concluded.
