Columbia passes historic anti-discrimination ordinance

Yesterday, the city council of Columbia, S.C. voted unanimously to pass ordinances prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in housing and public accommodations.

The South Carolina Progressive Network reports:

Columbia is the first municipality in the state to pass comprehensive human rights ordinances in housing and public accommodations including sexual orientation and gender identity. [...]

Columbia joins two other cities in the "Deep South" that have passed comprehensive anti-discrimination ordinances -- New Orleans and Atlanta.

Harriet Hancock, longtime activist and Board member of the SC Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement, said, "These ordinances represent the single greatest advance in civil rights for the LGBT community in the history of our state."