Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker moved forward Friday with a campaign promise to wipe out discrimination against gays and lesbians in the capital city.

A new anti-discrimination ordinance for housing and employment would mean equality for the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community — a group not protected under state law, Becker said Friday.

And after more than a year spent studying discrimination in the city, Becker said the ordinance would include safeguards to protect businesses and landlords.

"This addresses discrimination and is also sensitive to employers and those who own housing or manage housing," he said.

As it is written, the ordinance calls for written complaints and rebuttals to be filed with the city and reviewed by an administrator, likely a city employee whom Becker said he has yet to appoint.

If a complaint were found valid, both parties would meet in an attempt to resolve the issue outside of court. If no agreement could be reached, the complaint would be forwarded to the city attorney for possible civil action.

The proposed ordinance calls for fines of $500 for smaller companies and up to $1,000 for larger organizations.

"It's not a large amount," Becker said. "But it makes it clear that discrimination is not acceptable in our community."

The Salt Lake City Council is expected to vote on the ordinance later this year.

But with some state legislators already speaking out against the ordinance — and the potential for blocking it through a new state law — Becker would like to wait until April before the law goes into effect.

"We'll wait for the Legislature to have a chance to tell us what they think," the mayor said. "We didn't want to put this into effect when we know there's potential for a reaction in the Legislature."

Still, Becker said recent meetings with state lawmakers have encouraged him. "I'm certainly not discouraged about going forward with our ordinance," he said.

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