The Council Committee will discuss the possibility of a Non-Discrimination Ordinance (sometimes referred to as Sexual Orientation Sexual Identity) at it next meeting Tuesday August 13, 2019 at 7:00PM. The meeting is held in the council chambers at city hall at 11110 Johnson Drive, Shawnee Kansas 66203 Map info here
City staff will be presenting various options for the committee to review. To read exactly what is being presented please click here
There is quite a bit of conversation going on not only here in Johnson County but all across the country. Some cities have enacted NDOs, others have opted not to saying it is the responsibility of state and federal governments. Some of the enacted ordinances have been challenged in the courts and are still going through the process, quite possibly all the way to SCOTUS.
This is one of those topics that regardless of the outcome there will be folks who ask how did this happen (or not happen). Simple, folks did not attend the various meetings of the various governing bodies.
My personal opinion: This is something that is covered by current state and federal statutes. And if those statutes do need tweaking, it is the responsibility of the state and federal governments to do the tweaking. We do not need a mishmash checkerboard layout of differing city laws. Also, enough cases are in the court systems that it becomes, IMHO a situation where the final outcome of those cases becomes known before Shawnee proceeds any further.
