Kansas City
Passes Transgender Protections

The Kansas City, Mo., city council voted to extend antidiscrimination laws to protect expressions of gender identity. Council member Beth Gottstein, the measure's primary sponsor, said that though she expected some resistance, it was time to pass the measure.

"If our city code doesn't protect everyone, it protects no one," she said in a statement Thursday released by the Human Rights Campaign. "I am proud that we have taken this action to make clear that no one in Kansas City should have to face discrimination."

Mayor Mark Funkhouser said in a statement on Wednesday that he would support signing the measure into law because sexual identity should be covered just as race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation are currently in the city.

"Perhaps it was an oversight that gender identity was not included in the original legislation. If so, it was a mistake that we must now right," he stated, according to TheKansas City Star. "The rights protected by these laws ought to be extended to all people."

Kansas City will join more than 90 municipalities, 12 states, and Washington, D.C., in providing such protection. (The Advocate)