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Two Stories of Failed Kentucky Fairness Ordinances, But One Town Works to Update Its Own

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A failed vote on a fairness ordinance in Berea this week isn’t the first time such an ordinance has failed.

Murray Human Rights Commission Chair Jody Cofer Randall said despite a Henderson ordinance’s passage in 1999 the City Commission rescinded it within 18 months after community outcry.

At Berea though Randall said the work for LGBT rights is far from over.

“With Berea having such a history with diversity efforts, really a, vibrant, rich history, it’s sort of shocking in many ways that this is where we’re at today,” Randall said. “But I’ve been assured by many people that are working on this effort that it is going to continue and it will be brought forward again.”

Randall was also disappointed to hear Berea voted down its fairness ordinance in a week when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of expanding marriage equality.

“Public accommodations and employment protections are not the same thing as marriage equality by any means,” Randall said. “But to be coupled in the same week when we’ve seen such progress and then have this setback, it is unfortunate that this will be a headline popping up that this did fail by the Berea City Council.”

Randall said Murray is working to update its human rights ordinance, which hasn’t been updated in 35 years. LGBT issues are among the changes in the ordinance’s draft, and a final version could be ready for the city council within the next six months.

Whitney grew up listening to Car Talk to and from her family’s beach vacation each year, but it wasn’t until a friend introduced her to This American Life that radio really grabbed her attention. She is a recent graduate from Union University in Jackson, Tenn., where she studied journalism. When she’s not at WKMS, you can find her working on her backyard compost pile and garden, getting lost on her bicycle or crocheting one massive blanket.
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