For fourth time in a decade, Jacksonville debates LGBT discrimination protections

The Jacksonville City Council on Tuesday took the first step towards voting on legislation that would replace a 2017 law that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, which a Florida appeals court earlier this month ruled unenforceable due to a technical error.

Dozens of residents weighed in on the legislation, making many of the same arguments voiced in 2017, when the council passed the law, and failed attempts in 2015 and 2012.

Supporters said the law fixed a glaring hole in the city’s previous anti-discrimination law by extending protections to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. They also argued that many of the fears expressed by opponents - most notably, that it would make women vulnerable to sexual assault in bathrooms - were unfounded and failed to materialize since the law passed in 2017.

Opponents described a future where the law would open the door for men to enter female restrooms with impunity and be exploited by sexual predators who would enter female restrooms to target young girls.

The legislation doesn’t make any changes to who is allowed to enter restrooms.

After the council passed the new discrimination protections in 2017, the Liberty Counsel, an Orlando-based advocacy group, sued the city in an attempt to strike down the law. The city prevailed in court, although the 1st District Court of Appeals ruled this month that the city’s novel approach of changing the existing anti-discrimination law violated local and state laws.

The 2017 legislation was worded to add sexual orientation and gender identity to every section of the existing law that listed the classes, like race, gender and age, that were already protected against discrimination, although the legislation didn’t include the actual language of every section changed.

The court didn’t find the content of the law unconstitutional, but instead ruled the city’s failure to actually list each changed segment of the law was illegal.

Councilman Aaron Bowman, who helped lead the 2017 effort to pass the law, quickly introduced new legislation to fill the void created by the appeals court.

The 2012 and 2017 efforts drew big crowds to City Hall and generated hours of tense testimony. The coronavirus pandemic added a new dynamic to a familiar experience, as the council is holding meetings through video-conferencing software.

Despite the virtual setting and the fact the council didn’t begin hearing public comment until a little before 9 p.m., activists on both sides logged into Zoom and waited their turn to speak.

Dean VanTice, who was involved in the 2017 effort to pass the law, said the law accomplished exactly what was intended. He said it not only protected Jacksonville’s LGBT community from discrimination, but it also improved Jacksonville reputation to outsiders.

“I remember how proud I was on Valentines Day in 2017 when it passed, and when I travel for work, I’m still proud,” he said.

Although the legislation’s only reference to restrooms reiterates that businesses are allowed to operate single-occupancy bathrooms, opponents of the bill said they feared the law would allow men to enter women’s restrooms.

“My fear is that the passage of this bill will lead to a passage of another bill, and we’ll have everyone in the same bathroom. That’s not the way I think it should be,” said Andrew Duggan.

Lois Tague described a frightening incident where a man entered a restroom while she and her granddaughter were inside, asking if “there were any sweet little girls inside” and entering the room, laughing. She didn’t elaborate how the city’s 2017 law enabled or encouraged him from doing that.

“How can it be bad that anyone and everyone uses the bathroom that aligns to their biological sex?” she said.

Tracye Polson said the argument that the legislation would enable sexual predators was “abhorrent nonsense” used as a fear tactic.

“Homosexuality isn’t an excuse for pedophilia,” she said.