‘A SWEET MOMENT’
City council unanimously enacts human rights ordinance
Hazel Park City Council members unanimously enacted a human rights ordinance Tuesday night banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and other characteristics.
The move protects LGBT residents and visitors from discrimination in housing, employment, and public services and accommodations.
City Manager Ed Klobucher said the ordinance goes into effect 10 days after its enactment Tuesday.
Councilman Luke Londo, who is bisexual, first introduced the ordinance just over a month ago and called for its enactment by the council Tuesday night.
“We had a sweet moment,” he said. “After I introduced the motion everybody on the council seconded it in unison. I teared up a little bit.”
All five council members spoke out in favor of the measure.
“I think it enjoys broad-based support across the community,” Klobucher said.
Londo said he wishes the ordinance wasn’t necessary.
“But it is, because the state (Legislature) continues to drag its feet on amending the Michigan Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act” to include protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, Londo said.
A ballot question committee, Fair and Equal Michigan, is now awaiting certification of petitions for a legislative initiative by the Michigan Department of State. Successful certification would place the proposed initiative in front of the Michigan legislature to further define “sex” within the Elliot-Larsen act as encompassing gender identity and expression, as well as expanding the act to include sexual orientation,
If the legislature fails to adopt Fair and Equal Michigan’s proposal within 40 days of certification, the issue will go before voters in the November 2022 general election.
More than 50 communities statewide — including nearby Royal Oak, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, and Huntington Woods — already have enacted human rights ordinances like the Hazel Park now has.
There is a diverse mix of people in Hazel Park, Londo said.
“There are young and old, Democrats and Republicans here,” he said. “I think it’s great that things like the human rights ordinance can rise to the top because everybody has the same shared value of inclusion.”
Klobucher, a life-long Hazel Park resident, said the community has supported the spirit of the ordinance for many years.
“The ordinance is an expression really of who the people of Hazel Park have been for a long time,” he said. “We’ve been champions of inclusion and diversity for many years.”