Columbia, S.C., bans housing discrimination on basis of sexual orientation and gender identity

South Carolina Equality news release:

Columbia, SC, Passes Historic City Ordinances

Council Passes Ordinances Prohibiting Discrimination in Housing and Public Accommodations

Columbia, SC, March 5, 2008 -- Today the Columbia City Council voted unanimously to pass ordinances prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in housing and public accommodations.  South Carolina Equality proposed these ordinances in January and the ordinances passed with little opposition. 

C. Ray Drew, Executive Director of South Carolina Equality, said, “We have passed one of the most comprehensive bills in the country, in one of the most conservative states in the country.  South Carolina, and states like ours, represents the front lines of our battle for LGBT civil rights in this country.”

South Carolina’s Capital City is the first municipality in the state to pass comprehensive human rights ordinances in housing and public accommodations including sexual orientation and gender identity.  Council Members Daniel Rickenmann and Tameika Isaac Devine introduced the legislation and urged the City Council to support the ordinances.  Rickenmann and Isaac Devine stated, "When we work together and respect each other, we can make Columbia an even better place to live.”

Columbia joins two other cities in the “Deep South" that have passed comprehensive anti-discrimination ordinances: New Orleans and Atlanta. 

Harriet Hancock, longtime activist and Board Member of the SC Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement, said, “These ordinances represent the single greatest advance in civil rights for the LGBT community in the history of our state.”  Hancock was the architect of the 1991 city ordinances prohibiting discrimination in city employment on the basis of sexual orientation.

Drew added, “Working collaboratively with the SC Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement in passing these historic city ordinances is a perfect example of what our community can accomplish when we work together.”

Ryan Wilson, President of SC Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement, said, “There’s a whole new energy in our state.  We’re focused and working together.  There’s no end to what we can accomplish.”