I heard rumors this morning that the Board of Directors of Dallas Area Rapid Transit might take a final vote tonight on a proposal to add gender identity to the agency’s nondiscrimination policy.
Those rumors are false, according to DART spokesman Morgan Lyons, who says nothing has changed about the agency’s timeline for adding gender identity to the policy.
Lyons said the board’s “committee of the whole” will consider the policy change at its meeting at 4:30 p.m. today. The committee of the whole, which Lyons compared to a city council work session, will vote on whether to forward the proposal to the regular board.
“That’s the way they have to go with policy items,” Lyons said. “It requires two separate meetings. There’s no slight of hand. It’s not on the [board] agenda. It will be taken up in committee of the whole and assuming an affirmative vote, referred to the full board.”
If the policy change is referred to the board, members will take a final vote during their regular meeting June 15.
Lyons said there will be no opportunity for public input on the policy change during the committee of the whole session tonight. However, there will be a general public comment period during the subsequent board meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m.
While tonight’s vote isn’t final, I’d say it’ll be a pretty good indicator of the outcome, given that the committee of the whole and the Board of Directors are made up of the same people.
