City Passes Groundbreaking LGBT Bill

By a vote of 14-3, City Council has passed what is thought to be the most expansive citywide LGBT rights bill in the country. At the centerpiece of the bill is a $4,000 tax credit for companies to pay for health plans that do not exclude transgendered people or life partners from coverage. It also mandates similarly expanded plans for city employees. Don’t forget about gender-neutral municipal paper work and (single-use) gender-neutral bathrooms either, among other provisions.

Three voted against: Republicans David Oh and Brian O’Neill, who among other things, said they weren’t quite ready for health plans to include transgender surgery. Also voting nay was Bill Green, whose every vote is impossible not to consider in a political context, with the 2015 mayoral race looming. Green said his only concern was fiscal–the city couldn’t afford the tax credits. [City Paper]