Homosexuals and transgendered people won’t get any "special" treatment in Jacksonville, Fla.
The Jacksonville City Council overwhelmingly rejected the controversial proposed 2012-296 “non-discrimination” ordinance.
Ordinance 296 created a new protected class and
special rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and persons of any “gender identity or expression.”
“This is an extraordinary victory for the people of Jacksonville who rose up and made it clear they were not going to allow some secret council of elite powerbrokers or activists from outside Jacksonville to force extreme policies upon them,” says John Stemberger, president and general counsel of the Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC). “I could not be more proud of the local residents who worked so hard to create a citywide movement to defeat this disaster of an ordinance.”
If passed, the measure would have created a cause of action for money damages against private citizens by gay identified and others who felt they were being treated unfairly in workplace, housing and public accommodations.