Ogden City Council, mayor reach compromise on LGBT ordinances

OGDEN — Applause filled the Ogden City Council chambers late Tuesday, marking the end to nearly a year's worth of crafting, revising and ultimately agreeing upon ordinances prohibiting discrimination in housing and employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The city ordinances require any landlord or employer who discriminates against members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community to pay a $500 fine.

"Although many people have indicated these ordinances are about nondiscrimination, even more than that, it's about community," Councilman Brandon Stephenson said. "It's about loving one another. It's about getting along. It's about having what we need to continue that relationship together."

Stephenson was one of three councilmen who voted against the ordinances last week. That version of the ordinances did not include language clarifying that a person's religious beliefs neither would be a basis nor an excuse for discrimination.

The ordinances approved last week also did not exempt the city from its reach, which city attorneys said could open the city up to lawsuits and paying what could become very costly attorneys fees.

Mayor Matthew Godfrey promised to veto any action that did not include that criteria, and the 4-3 vote by the council left the door open for him to do just that.

Council members who voted for the ordinances without that language say they did so because they didn't believe it was necessary. The First Amendment already allows people to express their beliefs in a peaceful manner, they said, and the city shouldn't be exempt from laws it expects other businesses to obey.

In the end, subtle tweaks to the section on religious expression were agreeable to both sides. Godfrey also signed an administrative order prohibiting the city from discriminating against employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity, an action he says accomplishes the goals of the ordinances without the legal liability.

"These (ordinances) are a product of compromise," said Gary Williams, city attorney. "Like any fair compromise, it required both sides to give a little."

Ogden is the 12th city to enact nondiscrimination ordinances, using those approved by the Salt Lake City Council in November 2009 as a template.

City leaders and members of the public agreed Tuesday night that the year's worth of work on the ordinances make them better than those in Salt Lake City — at least for Ogden.

"We have a better ordinance that what Salt Lake has, and we're proud of that," said Councilman Doug Stephens, who voted against the ordinance last week. "Is it perfect? No, it isn't. But we're closer than we were last week."

The nondiscrimination ordinances went into effect upon approval.

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