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West Virginia Has Smallest Town With LGBT Rights Law

West Virginia Has Smallest Town With LGBT Rights Law

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The town of Thurmond, population five, adopted the ordinance this week.

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A tiny town in West Virginia this week became the smallest in the nation with an LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinance.

The Town Council of Thurmond, W.Va., population five, Monday night voted unanimously to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, The Washington Post reports. The ordinance applies to employment, housing, and public accommodations.

The ordinance is similar to one enacted in Charleston, the state's capital and largest city. "The big message was just, from the smallest town to the biggest town, West Virginians believe in equality," council member Tighe Bullock told the Post. Huntington, Morgantown, Athens, and Harpers Ferry also have such ordinances,

West Virginia has no statewide law banning anti-LGBT discrimination. Fairness West Virginia executive director Andrew Schneider, who worked with Thurmond's council on the ordinance, thinks municipal actions will influence state lawmakers. "The fact that there's this growing number of communities taking this step to bring fully inclusive nondiscrimination policies back home is a message to the rest of the state," he told the Post. "This is important for moving the state forward." His group is working on ordinances in other towns, such as Elkins and Beckley.

Thurmond is a close-knit community where most residents are related by blood or marriage, and all are active in municipal government -- three are on the council, one is mayor, and one is town recorder. It was once a railroad town with many coal trains running through, and John Sayles's 1987 movie Matewan, about a miners' strike, was filmed there. The town, situated on the New River, is now a popular destination for outdoor sports enthusiasts, who come in for hiking, mountain-biking, fishing, and boating.

Until now, Vicco, Ky., with a little over 300 residents, was believed to be the smallest municipality in the U.S. with an LGBT-inclusive civil rights ordinance.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.