Councilwoman Amanda Green is proposing a new County-wide ordnance that will enforce non-discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. The ordnance would target discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Perhaps the most important difference is that the county commission would be able to protect citizens who are discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Currently, there is no protection for these classes of people at the state level. Another difference Mr. Glassman talked about was that things tend to move more quickly at the county level, according to what he knows about the human relations commissions in Erie County and Philadelphia County, and those local agencies are more sensitive to local issues at play when dealing with discrimination complaints. Read more at the Women’s Law Project Blog

There is additional commentary by Tony Norman of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette —

Out of necessity, County Councilwoman Amanda Green introduced Ordinance 4201-08 last summer and has been fighting the good fight to ensure equality ever since. The ordinance has the eight co-sponsors it needs to pass, but it is far from guaranteed having lost sponsors recently. Read the Post Gazette article

County Council is inviting the public to weigh in on the merits of Ordinance 4201-08 at a hearing on Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Allegheny County Courthouse.