Wilmington City Councilmember Zanthia Oliver wants to add gender identity as a protected class in the city code.
Wilmington City Code already has protections in place for people who are discriminated against for their race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
Oliver introduced an ordinance in December to add gender identity and its definition to City Code’s section on bias-related offenses.
She said this will align City Code with state law.
“I think at this time, the national dialogue is targeting people for who they are, and we in Wilmington are just standing up for them,” Oliver said. “And this is simply an ordinance to underscore the importance of protecting Wilmington residents.”
The proposed ordinance defines gender identity as “a gender-related identity, appearance, expression, or behavior of a person, regardless of the person’s assigned sex at birth.”
Oliver added she hasn’t heard any resistance from her colleagues so far and is optimistic they will approve the ordinance when it next comes to Council.
After its first and second hearing, the ordinance moved on to the Finance and Economic Development Committee for review Monday, where they made no changes.
Enforcement will be handled by the city’s HR department, but if someone doesn’t feel their problem is adequately addressed, Oliver said they can reach out to her personally.
“I plan on putting out a number that they can call our office and leave a message for any of us so we can follow up, because only they would know if they felt like they've been discriminated towards.”
If approved by Council, it will add protections for city staff on the basis of gender identity regardless of gender assigned at birth.
Wilmington City Council will consider the ordinance at its Jan. 15 meeting.
