KETCHIKAN - The city council has passed an ordinance prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ people, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported.
Ketchikan on July 16 approved the protections for LGBTQ people that aren’t covered under federal law. Though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ employees from discrimination on the basis of sex, other situations were not included in the ruling.
The ordinance will ban discrimination against LGBTQ people in housing and in public businesses.
The City Council in the Southeast Alaska city unanimously passed the ordinance following a demonstration outside a Ketchikan flower shop after the owner reportedly refused to do business for a same-sex wedding.
The ordinance ensures autonomy for religious institutions and exclusive, member-based organizations.
But businesses will be banned from refusing service based on people’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The decree will come into effect in August.