Laramie citizens filled city hall on Tuesday night to show support for the adoption of the Laramie Non-Discrimination Ordinance.
Spencer Culver, a sophomore at UW and member of the non-discrimination task force, said the ordinance has been in the works since last summer. Culver and Bria Frame, another UW student on the task force, spoke on the ordinance together at the meeting citing that as of that morning there were a total of 50 businesses and 30 local organizations that supported the ordinance. The two expressed that a draft by the city attorney had changed some wording in the ordinance that needed to be amended. The amendment the task force proposed was passed with an eight to one vote, and the amended ordinance was passed to a second reading with an eight to one vote with councilor Vitale being the dissenting vote in both cases.
Will Welch, a post doctoral researcher at UW, said he has had overwhelmingly positive experiences in Laramie, and the ordinance would go a long way to show the values Laramie actually has. He cited several past occurrences in Wyoming of discrimination such as a couple being escorted out of a tavern because they were a same sex couple and a bar in Cheyenne that held promotions that excluded same sex couples.
“That bar had a sign up that said, no same sex couples may participate in the Wednesday night couples promotion. That is very much like saying no gays allowed,” Welch said. “The proposed amendment was designed to prohibit this kind of behavior.”
These cases are not representative of his experience in Wyoming, he said, adding that this amended ordinance would be a step in properly showing what Laramie is really like.
Martha Tate, a UW law student, said the council has civil rights opportunities she is envious of.
“I wanted to go to law school so I can save some part of the world and that probably won’t happen, but you have an opportunity to fulfill an idealistic goal of helping people,” Tate said. “That doesn’t come around very often. You can look at people in the eye tonight, and tell them that you can make their life better.”
The second reading of this ordinance will be on April 20.
