A temporary suspension of the city’s anti-discrimination chapter and an amendment to the Unity Council goals will head for a final vote next week after a 6-2 vote Sept. 2.
If the council votes for the suspension and the amendment, the city will follow other North Texas city governments in protecting its federal funding.
“We’re taking steps that are all intended to pursue capital in this community with over $65 million worth of assistance coming here,” City Manager Trey Yelverton told those in attendance at the Sept. 2 council meeting.
The city can lose around $65 million in annual federal funding if it fails to suspend all “radical and wasteful government programs” under an executive order issued on the first day of President Donald Trump’s second term, officials said.
Yelverton said that the changes are the first in a round of actions the council will vote on to comply with the new federal policy.
The anti-discrimination chapter of the city code formalized protections granted under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, such as fair housing, employment and public accommodations for protected classes.
The chapter does stray from the original Civil Rights Act’s language by including sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes for each category.
“The City of Arlington recognizes that legal protections extended to most protected classes under federal and state law have not been completely extended to protect individuals against discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity,” the chapter reads.
If the chapter of the city code is violated, the city can file a lawsuit or help conciliate issues regarding discrimination against these groups.
Citizens who believe they have been discriminated against in a manner that violates the chapter can file complaints with the city.
The city will then investigate the complaint and go through a conciliation process. If the complaint cannot be resolved, the city refers it to a state or federal agency.
While there are no state laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ individuals in housing and employment, there are federal and local laws that extend those protections.
In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that businesses of 15 or more employees could not refuse to hire or fire individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The current Arlington fair housing code classifies sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes. The code was amended to include those classes when the anti-discrimination ordinance was passed.
There is no federal or state law prohibiting public accommodation-based discrimination against those classes, though the current city anti-discrimination ordinance protects them.
A new state law, passed during the Texas Legislature’s special session, restricts which bathrooms individuals can use on government-owned property.
Other cities have begun to roll back their DEI efforts in response to President Trump’s executive order.
In August, the Fort Worth City Council voted 7-4 to suspend its DEI initiatives to protect a yearly $40.6 million in combined federal funds and grants.
Fort Worth’s nondiscrimination section in the city code, passed in 2000 and amended in 2009 to include gender identity and sexual orientation, still stands, according to city officials.
City Attorney Molly Shortall said city staff need time to evaluate what changes need to be made to Arlington’s ordinance, and that across cities, each ordinance is different.
“Even though they may have an ordinance that’s titled anti-discrimination, it doesn’t mean the content of it is the same,” Shortall told the Arlington Report.
According to Arlington officials, there are no programs, funding or staff tied to the anti-discrimination chapter.
HELP Center for LGBTQ Health CEO DeeJay Johannessen was one of the original champions of the ordinance, urging the council to pass it in 2021.
Johannessen, who also spoke to the council ahead of the vote, said he was made aware of the possible suspension of the ordinance after the council’s agenda was released.
One of the most concerning parts of this process was how quickly the council moved to suspend the ordinance, Johannessen said.
“The fact that basic rights and protections can be so quickly thrown out should be alarming to everyone,” Johannessen said in an interview with the Arlington Report.
Eleven audience members spoke to the council, with nine against the suspension and two for it.
Those against the action said that a suspension of the ordinance was a capitulation to President Trump, while those in favor said that the suspension was necessary to keep federal funding.
“It’s very unfortunate that we came down to suspending an anti-discrimination chapter, but obviously, everyone here has made very thoughtful decisions and thoughtful considerations to prevent harm from being done from that effort,” Trevor McCullough, a UT-Arlington student, told council members.
The two votes against suspension of the anti-discrimination chapter came from council members Barbara Odom-Wesley and Nikkie Hunter.
Ahead of the vote, Odom-Wesley moved to table the discussion and said that she could not vote for the suspension as it was a step backwards.
“I cannot support suspending the anti-discrimination chapter because that says to me, ‘It’s OK to discriminate now,’ and it’s just not OK with me,” Odom-Wesley told the audience.
The table motion failed 2-6.
The City Council also voted to amend the Unity Council’s section in the city code.
The Unity Council was established in 2020 with hopes that it would help create unity in the city and create ways to combat racism.
Since then, the council has continued to research ways to increase equity in the city and bring forward recommendations to the city.
In both 2021 and 2023, the Unity Council created reports with its recommendations along with updates on existing recommendations.
In May, Chief Equity Officer Troy Williams told City Council that the Unity Council may need to pivot based on the new anti-DEI measures, according to KERA News.
The amendment focuses on much of the language used for the council.
The original administration chapter of the city code, which details what an organization is meant to do, makes mention of goals to “eliminate racism” and “identify ways to support the needs of diverse communities, including but not limited to individuals with disabilities, LGBT individuals and senior or aging individuals.”
The proposed amendment would remove the words racism and the specification of individuals with disabilities and LGBT individuals, opting instead to state the council should “identify ways to support the needs of all Arlington residents, visitors and stakeholders.”
Jason Shelton, a UT-Arlington professor and head of the Unity Council, said that the language behind the program may change, but the goal of the council will remain the greater good of the community.
“This does not mean that we step back or that we stop moving forward,” Shelton told the City Council. “It just means we focus on issues that impact all of us.”
Hunter, who was on the original Unity Council, was the sole no vote on the amendment ordinance. The Unity Council has done a great job and does not require changes, Hunter said.
“I don’t really think that they need any type of amendments as far as changing anything they are doing,” Hunter told the Arlington Report.
Since both the suspension and amendment were ordinances, they will require a second vote to enact, according to the city charter.
Chris Moss is a reporting fellow for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@fortworthreport.org.
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