City now has LGBTQ nondiscrimination ordinance in place

Earlier this month, Oberlin became the 33rd municipality in Ohio to pass an LGBTQ nondiscrimination ordinance, which prohibits discrimination in the city based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

The first reading of the ordinance was passed in early December, but has been a project in the works for several years through a City Council subcommittee, according to Council Vice President Heather Adelman.

The passage of the ordinance, which occurred during a Jan. 4 Council meeting, is a historic moment for the city, Adelman said.

She said 2020 was a difficult year, and it was “really exciting to work on something that was more positive” than thinking about the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to working on the subcommittee, Adelman said the city worked in partnership with Columbus’s Equality Ohio to draft legislation and procedures.

She said that this is a small but important step toward equality in the city of Oberlin.

“There’s a lot of reasons why I’m proud to live in Oberlin and have the opportunity to serve the city of Oberlin, and this is just one more reason to love being here,” she said.

According to a memo from Oberlin City Law Director Jon Clark, there is only one example of LGBTQ protections from discrimination at the state and federal levels.

The new ordinance will prohibit discrimination in the employment of four or more people, other than family members and by employment agencies and labor organizations, the memo read.

“This ordinance seeks to extend to the LGBTQ community the protections afforded to other protected classes under existing state and federal law,” the memo says. “This ordinance declares it to be the policy of the city of Oberlin to assure equal opportunity to all persons, free from restrictions, because of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and providers for the enforcement of that policy.”

Enforcement of these regulations are applicable to Oberlin’s fair housing ordinance, which will need to be amended in the near future.

The memo also details how a discrimination complaint would be filed, which are filed through the code administrator and further dealt with by the city’s Human Relations Commission.

In the case of discrimination, the complaint should be filed within 180 days of the discriminatory act.

If found guilty of a violation, a hearing officer on the case can impose civil penalties, up to $1,000 charged for an initial violation, $2,500 for a second violation within the previous five years, and up to $5,000 if previously committed of two or more violations within the five-year period.