On the same day Republicans are deciding whether impeached Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore or Trump-endorsed Luther Strange will be their nominee to replace Jeff Sessions in the U.S. Senate, the city of Birmingham passed a fully inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance by a vote of 7-0.
“Today is a monumental victory for everyone who lives and works in Birmingham who are now fully protected from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations,” Alex Smith, executive director of Equality Alabama, wrote in a press release. “Before this ordinance was passed, you could get married on Saturday then on Monday be fired from your job, evicted from your home, or denied service because you’re LGBTQ. No one should be discriminated against because of who they are or whom they love, and Birmingham took action today to ensure that.”
Birmingham may have looked to Mississippi, its progressive neighbor to the west, where Jackson passed a similar ordinance last year. In Alabama, both Huntsville and Mobile have human rights commissions, and Montevallo, a university town south of Birmingham, is poised to pass LGBT nondiscrimination protections.
— David Taffet
