Overview
- The vote maintains the suspension of ordinance language that had protected sexual orientation and gender identity from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations.
- Arlington’s anti-discrimination chapter, adopted in 2021, authorizes the city to investigate complaints and mediate disputes involving covered protected classes.
- Officials pointed to a previously lost $50,000 grant and warned that as much as roughly $60 million in federal funding for city services could be at risk.
- Public comment favored reinstatement, with 34 speakers supporting restoration and 11 opposing it, but the council narrowly upheld the pause.
- City staff had floated removing explicit LGBTQ terms without a vote, and a draft reinstatement under discussion would allow suspending sections deemed unlawful or preempted based on attorney general or court determinations, as the mayor pledged to keep seeking a legally durable solution.