FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS—On December 9, the residents of a college town tucked in the Ozark Mountains in northwest Arkansas will decide whether to overturn the non-discrimination ordinance passed by the City Council this summer.
The ordinance is similar to policies in hundreds of cities from Phoenix, Arizona to Louisville, Kentucky.
If allowed to stand, it would amend the city’s civil rights protections to ban discrimination based on real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic background, marital status or veteran status in hiring, housing and public accommodations.
In Fayetteville, as in most states and cities, it is still legal to fire someone just for being gay or trans. With federal protections stalled in Congress and the Arkansas legislature’s Republican super-majority expanding after this past election, the town’s LGBT residents say they need the local ordinance right away.
At a City Council meeting in August that ran until nearly 3 a.m., resident Nathan Southerland Cordsmeyer testified about the years he and his husband have spent dealing with hostile employers and landlords……….
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