Fairness.

In 1999, activists and a brave Council made Lexington the second city in Kentucky to ban discrimination against gays and lesbians in housing, employment, and accommodations. In that same legislation, we were the first city in the Commonwealth to include trans* protections as well.

In 2013, Lexington again beat broad public opinion and offered spousal benefits to same-gender domestic partners of City employees.

But, as a former member of the Lexington-Fayette Human Rights Commission, I am intimately aware of the discrimination that so many of our neighbors face. The LGBTQ* community, and particularly communities of color, face discrimination today.

And even as Lexington has been scored a 93 in the Human Rights Campaign Municipal Equality Index, we must achieve a perfect score. Achieving this score is not just a check-mark — it’s actualizing and living our values. It won’t just improve our economic competitiveness; it’s something even more important. It will make this City a place worth living in.

We failed to get a 100 on the MEI because the City of Lexington does not offer any trans*-inclusive health benefits to its public employees. Neither do we offer sufficient support to LGBTQ* youth, LGBTQ* homeless populations, or ban the barbaric practice of conversion therapy.

We must do all of these at once, and I will lead to get it done.

There are more ways we can make Lexington more welcoming:

• We have to amend statutes and ordinances to be gender-inclusive, and make sure that we are providing sufficient trans* awareness training.
• We must make it frictionless to update ones personnel records to reflect correct gender pronouns.
• We must offer transition guidelines, so the City workplace is accommodating and welcoming to our transgender staff.

Moreover, especially in this current economic distress, we should not go backwards. The needs of homeless and housing insecure LGBTQ* youth are especially pronounced today, and the City should ensure the social safety net remains.

These actions will signal to our neighbors and to the rest of the country that Lexington is a place that welcomes the contributions of all people.