cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/42210845
After hours of heated testimony and debate, Sandpoint’s City Council voted to repeal the city’s rules protecting residents and visitors from discrimination.
The city was the first of 13 in Idaho to pass an ordinance barring discrimination, said Nicole Erwin, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates. Its decision Wednesday marked the first time an Idaho city has dialed back such an ordinance, she said.
The ordinance, enacted in 2011, stated that everyone could enjoy the “full benefits of citizenship” and equal opportunity “regardless of sexual orientation” or “gender identity/expression.” It defined the latter term as a “gender-related identity, appearance, expression or behavior of an individual regardless of a person’s assigned sex at birth.”
Having snowboarded Schweitzer, which is the ski resort just outside Sandpoint, my impression of the town was that it was the bougiest, whitest place I have ever seen. Their repeal of the anti-discrimination ordinance is as meaningful as its institution: going with the zeitgeist in hopes of attracting more visitors?