Macon leaders approve anti-discrimination ordinance, send it to the mayor’s desk

Macon-Bibb County Commissioners passed an anti-discrimination ordinance by a 5-4 vote Tuesday that was written to prohibit discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations.

If Mayor Robert Reichert does not veto the ordinance, it will prohibit discrimination in these areas based on race, religion, color, sex, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity or military status.

Commissioners and residents discussed the ordinance during a public hearing at 3 p.m. Tuesday and the commission meeting at 6 p.m.

The public hearing

Scott Mitchell, the Rev. Scott Dickison of First Baptist Church of Christ, Andrea Cooke and the Rev. Jake Hall of Highland Hills Baptist Church spoke in support of the ordinance, along with six other residents.

“I stand before you as a Black woman who has been discriminated against, period. Currently, I have no recourse. What you all decide today can change that,” Cooke said. “This ordinance would protect people from discrimination. Not having this ordinance in Macon-Bibb not only allows for abuse, it encourages it. Continuing to miss the mark on protecting all of Macon-Bibb citizens sends a message that the majority of us do not matter.”

Former mayoral candidate Blake Sullivan was among 10 people who spoke against the ordinance along with Pastor Rusty Smith of Mikado Baptist Church, interim Pastor Tom Rush of Tabernacle Baptist Church and attorney Thomas Peter Allen.

“First, let me say that the intent of this ordinance is not to protect the rights of discrimination because of race, religion, color, sex, disability or national origin,” he said. “Discrimination in these rights has no place in our society, and these rights are protected by our Constitution, and federal and state laws. But there is no doubt that this ordinance introduces two new rights based on a faulty understanding of two kinds of behavior: sexual orientation and gender identity.

“In fact, this ordinance takes away the business owners’ freedom to practice religion, and instead coerces many Christian and Jewish faith-based people in our county to accept the LGBTQ lifestyle as one of their moral beliefs.”

Many of the people speaking in favor of the ordinance, including commissioners in the meeting Tuesday night, reiterated that while federal anti-discrimination protections exist, local protections would allow people to file anti-discrimination complaints at the county level with the clerk of commission. The complaint would be sent to the county attorney and then go through a mediation process. If either party opts to skip the mediation process, the complaint would then go in front of a hearing officer. People who violate the ordinance could be charged up to $500 in fines per violation.

Georgia is one of three states that doesn’t have an anti-discrimination law on the books, and Macon would be the 12th city in Georgia to pass this type of ordinance and the first county.

The commission meeting

Reichert said he’d received 47 emails in support of the ordinance and hundreds in opposition. Commissioner Valerie Wynn said she received several emails opposed to the ordinance.

“It seems to be reverse discrimination against women and children, and the rights of these people that want other things besides this,” she said. “Why are we worrying this community about doing this? We have so many other things to worry about.”

Commissioner Larry Schlesinger said the ordinance gives people an opportunity to deal with discrimination at the local level rather than go through a long, expensive federal process.

“They’re being ostracized emotionally. They’re being ostracized psychologically, for having been endowed by their creator with a genetic recipe that is different than most of us,” Schlesinger said. “This piece of legislation is not about bathrooms. Schools are completely exempt from this.”

Several commissioners and residents who opposed the ordinance expressed fear that it would result in bathroom assaults.

Commissioner Virgil Watkins said he thought the Rev. Jake Hall explained it well in his comments during the public hearing when he asked the rhetorical question, “Where do you think transgender people go to the bathroom now?”

“Nowhere in this bill, or document, are we referencing bathrooms one way or another,” Watkins said. “It’s a strange argument to include, or to specify bathrooms in the way that we’re doing. The primary issues are that even in our police or sheriff’s department that transgender individuals are beaten, discriminated and have acts of violence against them at an alarming rate. When we talk about murders and suicides and acts of violence, those are the folks that need protection right now.”

Commissioners Valerie Wynn, Mallory Jones, Joe Allen and Scotty Shepherd voted against the ordinance while Virgil Watkins, Bert Bivins, Elaine Lucas, Larry Schlesinger and Al Tillman supported the ordinance.

This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 8:46 PM.