Vicco, Smallest Town In Kentucky, Passes LGBT Non-Discrimination Law

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Huffington Post</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">  |  By </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/curtis-wong" rel="author" style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #999999; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Glennisha Morgan</a> From: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/">http://www.huffingtonpost.com</a><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Posted: </span><span itemprop="datePublished" style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">01/24/2013 2:51 pm EST</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">  |  Updated: </span><span itemprop="dateModified" style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">01/24/2013 3:18 pm EST</span><br /><span itemprop="dateModified" style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Gay Discrimination Law" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/957389/thumbs/r-GAY-DISCRIMINATION-LAW-large570.jpg?6" /></span><br /><span itemprop="dateModified" style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></span><span itemprop="dateModified" style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #999999; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span><br /><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">On the heels of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/kentucky-equality-federation-civil-rights-act-lgbt_n_2533928.html" style="border: none; color: #ed4a4b; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">a statewide push for Kentucky </a>to its protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens, one of the smallest towns in the commonwealth has just approved a new nondiscrimination law which does exactly that.</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">A week ago, the <a href="http://www.fairnesscoalition.org/" style="border: none; color: #ed4a4b; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">Fairness Coalition</a> joined Vicco, Ky. -- home to some 334 residents in total -- as they passed the commonwealth’s first LGBT fair treatment ordinance in a decade, <a href="http://www.lex18.com/news/vicco-kentucky-approves-lgbt-fairness-law" style="border: none; color: #ed4a4b; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">reports Lex 18</a>. Vicco is now <a href="http://blogs.courier-journal.com/faith/2013/01/15/vicco-kentucky-called-smallest-town-in-america-with-gay-rights-protections/" style="border: none; color: #ed4a4b; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">being touted by a number of media outlets</a> as the smallest town in America to adopt an anti-discrimination law based on sexual orientation and gender identity.</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">The law prevents discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based upon a person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. <a href="http://www.advocate.com/society/law/2013/01/15/vicco-ky-smallest-us-city-lgbt-rights-law" style="border: none; color: #ed4a4b; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">The Advocate reports</a> that Mayor Johnny Cummings supported the fair shake along with three out of the four members of the Appalachian’s commission.</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Vicco became the fourth city in Kentucky to pass the equality bearing law. In 1999, Lexington and Louisville both approved such laws, followed by Covington in 2003,<a href="http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2013/01/vicco-ky-becomes-smallest-u-s-town-to-adopt-lgbt-fairness-law/" style="border: none; color: #ed4a4b; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">LGBTQ Nation reported</a>.</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">“Vicco is a community that believes all folks should be treated fairly,“ attorney Eric Ashley said in a Fairness Coalition press release sent to HuffPost Gay Voices. “We believe everyone deserves the opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Fairness is a Kentucky value, a Vicco value, and one of our most American values.”</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Last October, the acquittal of the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/23/hate-crime-harlan-county_n_1534421.html" style="border: none; color: #ed4a4b; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">first-ever federal prosecution of a hate crime</a>, which took place in Harlan County, Ky., left many baffled. Four cousins were accused of attacking Kevin Pennington, a 28-year-old gay man, because of his sexual orientation and possibly because of their own self-hatred.</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Though the case had been nationally touted as the first to be prosecuted under the<a href="http://www.hrc.org/laws-and-legislation/federal-laws/matthew-shepard-and-james-byrd-jr.-hate-crimes-prevention-act" style="border: none; color: #ed4a4b; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act</a> (signed by President Barack Obama in 2009), it was eventually deemed a drug deal gone wrong. While the men were convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy charges, the jury<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/26/gay-hate-crime-acquittal-kentucky_n_2024569.html" style="border: none; color: #ed4a4b; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">ultimately rejected</a> the theory that hatred had motivated their crimes.</div><div style="border: none; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Perhaps the sentiments of Vicco’s new law will echo in the minds of Kentucky lawmakers while the KEF continues to run <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/commonwealth-of-kentucky-2013-add-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-kentucky-civil-rights-2?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=url_share&utm_campaign=url_share_before_sign" style="border: none; color: #ed4a4b; cursor: pointer; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_hplink">its petition</a> to alter the commonwealth’s Civil Rights Act of 1966, amending it to include protection for all LGBT Kentucky residents.</div></div>

LGBT Vicco, Smallest Town In Kentucky, Passes LGBT Non-Discrimination Law

The Huffington Post   |  By  Glennisha Morgan  From:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com Posted:  01/24/2013 2:51 pm EST   |  Updated:  01/24/201...

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