NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — A number of speakers addressed New Port Richey’s city council Tuesday evening in support of drafting an ordinance that would prevent discrimination against the LGBTQ community.

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“It’s a big move here for Pasco County," said Pasco Pride founder and CEO Denise Johnson on Thursday. "Everything that we’ve been doing, we’ve gotten great support from the city.” 

“We don’t need ‘special’ anything,” Johnson added. “We need the same protections that you have, that the rest of society has. We don’t have those protections right now.”

Johnson presented council members with an ordinance adopted by the City of Gulfport that she said could work for New Port Richey, as well. It would ensure equal access for the LGBTQ community when it comes to employment, education, housing, and public accommodations like restaurants, bars, and hotels.

It would in turn prohibit discrimination based on several factors, including age, race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or physical characteristic. The ordinance also establishes a process for those who feel they’ve been discriminated against to make complaints, and lays out details for conciliation proceedings and hearings.

According to the non-profit Equality Florida, no anti-discrimination laws with protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity currently exist for Pasco County or any of its cities. Among those in the Tampa Bay area that do have such laws are the cities of Tampa and Dunedin, as well as Hillsborough County.

Jon Harris Maurer, public policy director for Equality Florida, said there is no Florida or federal law that expressly establishes anti-discrimination policies based on sexual orientation or gender identity. 

Level of support, opposition

“There is a lot of support, I will speak to that,” said Pasco Pride Executive Vice President Nina Borders, speaking of how she views attitudes of Pasco residents toward the LGBTQ community. “We have an enormous amount of support as we’ve started to do this, but there’s still several businesses and schools or clubs that still are very anti-LGBT. So that’s what we’re working to fix.”

Borders works as a firefighter and paramedic in Pinellas County, which does have the kind of anti-discrimination law being pushed for in New Port Richey.

“I can go anywhere, I can do anything, and I feel safe. I can’t really legally be discriminated against," Borders explained. "As soon as I clock out and I cross that border back into Pasco, it’s almost as if nothing I do matters. Anybody for any particular reason can choose to discriminate against me.”

“I, personally, have been told by some businesses in Pasco County, let me just leave it at that, ‘We don’t want your kind in here,’” Johnson said. “I actually just kind of took a step back and said, ‘Wow. In 2018, you used those words.’”

"Fairly straightforward" process

New Port Richey Mayor Rob Marlowe said the Gulfport ordinance submitted to the council by Johnson already has a connection to New Port Richey. It was drafted by the city attorney, who will also be in charge of drafting a version for the council to consider.

“I would think this would be fairly straightforward,” Marlowe said. “We’ve got a lot of folks in the gay community that live and work here in New Port Richey. They’re part of our community. Don’t see any reason to discriminate against them.”

Marlowe said after an ordinance is drafted, there will be a first reading. Council members can familiarize themselves with it, talk about it, and hear public comment.

If it passes the first reading, it would move onto a second reading where it could be adopted.