Augusta Commission approves non-discrimination ordinance
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - On Tuesday, Augusta city leaders ed an ordinance to protect you from discrimination.
The idea is to fine businesses that treat customers unfairly based on things like race, religion, gender identity, military status and more.
The Augusta Commission unanimously ed the ordinance.
“I have long said that Augusta should be a city of opportunity for everyone, where people want to live, learn, work and raise their family,” Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. said Tuesday in a statement. “With its age, this ordinance says to residents, visitors, and business owners that you are welcome no matter your sexual orientation or gender identity and race, religion, color, sex, disability, national origin, ancestry, age, or military status.”
Davis said discrimination of any form has no place in Augusta.
He said the purpose of the ordinance is to “provide a way for those most vulnerable in our community to have their voices heard and go through a deliberate process.”
He said Augusta is committed to the values of equity, inclusion and diversity, and the ordinance is a tangible way to demonstrate that commitment.
He thanked the task force that worked to bring the ordinance to fruition, and especially Commissioner Francine Scott for shepherding the subcommittee and getting it over the finish line.
Augusta became the Peach State’s 14th city to such an ordinance.
“By its age of a broad, inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance, Augusta has proclaimed its commitment to growing a community free for everyone to be who they are, raise their family, and earn a living,” said Matthew Duncan, former board member of Georgia Equality and the president of Equality Augusta. “I am incredibly proud of Augusta and am grateful to its leadership for today’s historic accomplishment.”
The ordinance “ensures 202,000 more Georgians are provided the necessary protections from discrimination that we all deserve,” said Jeff Graham, Georgia Equality’s executive director.
“All of us at Georgia Equality are proud to have been involved in this work, as we continue pushing for the age of these protections in cities and counties across Georgia,” Graham said.
Atlanta was Georgia’s first city to a nondiscrimination ordinance over 20 years ago, but a second city didn’t until Doraville in 2018.
After Doraville, Decatur, Clarkston, Chamblee and Dunwoody ed ordinances in 2019; Brookhaven, East Point, Savannah, Smyrna, Statesboro and Hapeville ed them in 2020, and most recently, Athens-Clarke ed its ordinance in August of this year.
READ THE NON-DISRIMINATION ORDINANCE:
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