Before a full room, and a row of people holding signs that said “protect our privacy” and “political correctness gone amuck,” Chattanooga’s nondiscrimination ordinance cleared its last hurdle and challenge Tuesday.
The ordinance, which aims to protect gay, lesbian and transgender city employees from being discriminated against or harassed based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, passed in a 5-2 vote.
But that was after Chattanooga City Councilmen Larry Grohn and Ken Smith attempted to have the final vote delayed a week.
Grohn and Smith said they received an analysis of the legislation from the University of Tennessee’s Municipal Technical Advisory Service that said the ordinance might be difficult to enforce and too vague.
Smith said he supported having an anti-harassment ordinance, but he wanted to make sure the law was properly worded.