Columbia SC Passes Trans Rights Bill

[DonnaT]

Columbia SC Passes Trans Rights Bill
http://www.365gay.com/Newscon08/03/030508sc.htm

Columbia, South Carolina) Columbia, South Carolina on Wednesday became the first municipality in the state to enact laws protecting gays and transgendereds.
City Council voted unanimously to pass the ordinances prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in housing and public accommodations.
“We have passed one of the most comprehensive bills in the country, in one of the most conservative states in the country," said C. Ray Drew, Executive Director of South Carolina Equality, which pressed for the laws. "South Carolina, and states like ours, represents the front lines of our battle for LGBT civil rights in this country.”
The legislation was introduced by council members Daniel Rickenmann and Tameika Isaac Devine. It passed with little debate.
"When we work together and respect each other, we can make Columbia an even better place to live,” Rickenmann and Isaac Devine said in a statement following the vote.
Columbia now joins two other cities in the Deep South that have passed comprehensive anti-discrimination ordinances: New Orleans and Atlanta.
Harriet Hancock, longtime activist and Board Member of the SC Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement, said, “These ordinances represent the single greatest advance in civil rights for the LGBT community in the history of our state.”
Hancock was the architect of a 1991 city ordinance prohibiting discrimination in city employment on the basis of sexual orientation.

[Virginia]

Wow! what an accomplishment!!! Ain't it great!?

Like the article says, it is a VERY conservative area and to get that through, impressive. I would imagine that the college had a bit to do with it, but who knows.

We are making progress, slowly, but progress!!!

Thanks, Donna for the update!!

Virginia

[Caith]

I lived there from 1980 to 1991, and would NEVER have expected such an item to be passed. I'm glad to hear it, actually!

[Brinda]

the bill that passed what does it mean for us cds?i am not that smart so i have to ask questions.does that mean that we cds can go out fully dressed in the day time and at night and no one can say a thing to us,or is there something else that i am missing.please help thank you ladys.

[Violet]

I believe we all have the right to go out dressed any way we want, anywhere we want, in any democratic nation. Similarly, others have the right to express their opinions about us in public forums. It's a Free Country(tm) yeah right!

Anti-discrimination bills like this one generally contain provisions prohibiting discrimination against TGs in employment, housing, loan applications and the like (ie you can't be fired, or denied a place to live, just because someone doesn't like the fact that you crossdress) Some of them also contain hate crime, hate speech or sexual harassment provisions specifically targeted to prevent violence and verbal abuse of TGs. You'd have to read the specific legislation to be sure exactly what it does to protect you.

[DonnaT]

the bill that passed what does it mean for us cds?i am not that smart so i have to ask questions.does that mean that we cds can go out fully dressed in the day time and at night and no one can say a thing to us,or is there something else that i am missing.please help thank you ladys.

No, Brinda. There is no bill in the country that prevents anyone from saying anything about how we dress.

If Jim bob down from up the creek wants to tell you you look silly in a suit, he can. Freedom of speech, don't you know.

Note that if there is no law or ordinance specifically preventing a man from dressing enfemme, then you already have the right to crossdress, and no bill granting that right is needed.

Most jurisdictions do not have laws against crossdressing.

The law just passed in Columbia means, for example, that a landlord can't kick someone out of their apartment for crossdressing.