Springfield, Ill., bans antigay discrimination

The city council of Springfield, Ill., voted Tuesday to make the city the latest Illinois community to formally ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, according to Copley News Service. "By voting in favor of adding the words sexual orientation [to the existing antidiscrimination ordinance], we are saying, let's get over discrimination," said the Reverend David Morganseay, pastor of Springfield's Heartland Metropolitan Community Church, which serves gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered congregants. "Let's make Springfield a city that will not tolerate discrimination or hate." Morganseay was one of 15 members of the public who went before aldermen Tuesday to express their views on the ordinance, which adds sexual orientation to the list of protected categories under which discrimination is prohibited in such matters as housing, employment, and credit. Categories already included are race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, marital status, handicap, and, in housing matters only, familial status.