Lexington changing its Fairness Ordinance for first time in 20 years. Find out why.
Lexington is amending its landmark ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation for the first time in 20 years.
The proposed changes come four months after the Kentucky Supreme Court dismissed a high-profile discrimination lawsuit against a Lexington-based retailer on a technicality.
In October, the high court dismissed a discrimination claim against Hands on Originals, a Christian-owned T-shirt printer in Lexington that was accused of violating the city’s fairness ordinance by refusing to make shirts for the 2012 Pride Festival because of religious objections to “pride in being gay.”
However, the court sidestepped debates over civil rights and the freedoms of religion and speech by ruling on a legal technicality. It said the party that brought the claim — the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization — lacked the statutory standing to do so because it was not an individual who was denied service by the business.
On Tuesday, a committee of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted to amend the ordinance to change the definition of who can file discrimination claims with the Lexington-Fayette Human Rights Commission, the body that investigates discrimination complaints.
The General Government and Social Services Committee voted unanimously for the proposed changes. The changes now go to the full council for a final vote. That vote will be in coming weeks.
“The Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the case. They only ruled that the people who filed the case did not have standing,” Vice Mayor Steve Kay said during Tuesday’s committee meeting.
That’s because Lexington’s ordinance uses the word individual instead of person. Under state statute, a person is defined as any organization, corporation, committee or nonprofit. By making the change, it will be clear who has standing to bring a discrimination case.
Kay pushed for the change after the October court decision.
Councilwoman Susan Lamb, chairwoman of the General Government and Social Services Committee, said the change was minor but necessary. “This just makes sure that our code of ordinances complies with the state statute.”
No one spoke against the change.
The Hands On Originals case is the most high-profile legal challenges to Lexington’s Fairness Ordinance in the past 20 years.
The Lexington Human Rights Commission ruled against Hands On Originals for violating the fairness ordinance, part of which prohibits businesses that are open to the public from discriminating against people based on their sexual orientation. The store was not fined, but it was ordered to cease such practices in the future and send its staff to sensitivity training.
The business appealed and won favorable decisions in Fayette Circuit Court, the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Lexington was the first city in Kentucky to pass a fairness ordinance in July 1999.
Fort Thomas became the 17th city in Kentucky to pass a fairness ordinance earlier this month.
Seven of the 17 cities that have passed ordinances prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ individuals have done so in the past two years. A statewide fairness bill has repeatedly stalled in the state legislature. Also on Tuesday, Woodford County passed a county-wide fairness ordinance, the first county in 20 years to do so.
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 2:33 PM.
