The City of Tulsa moves forward with an ordinance amendment to add gender identity and sexual orientation as protected classes when it comes to housing discrimination.
The ordinance was discussed in a committee meeting and given a first reading during the council meeting yesterday evening.
"It's sad to me that we have to declare these different classes of protected citizens against discrimination instead of just allowing basic human decency and common sense to prevail," said Councilor Blake Ewing, who proposed the change. "But we do. Because some people are jerks."
The idea first came up in February after a review of the city’s fair housing practices revealed lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people in Tulsa aren’t protected from housing discrimination.
In a public meeting, several people relayed to the council experiences of discrimination.
City policy analyst Nathan Harvill said there are two exceptions to the ordinance, however.
"The first is a person who rents out a room in that person's house," Harvill said. "The other would be religious institutions who have housing for people of that same religious faith."
The council will vote on the change Thursday.
