Crescent Springs became the twenty-first in Kentucky and the eighth in Kenton and Campbell counties to adopt what is commonly referred to as a fairness ordinance, extending legal protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
City council voted unanimously Monday night to approve the ordinance, which was brought to the city building by Councilman Justin Hartfiel.
The ordinance adds sexual orientation and gender identity to discrimination protections in employment, housing, and public accommodations.
Crescent Springs joins Covington, which adopted a similar ordinance in 2003, as the only Kenton County cities to do so. In Campbell Co., such legislation took off in 2019 and 2020 with Dayton, Bellevue, Cold Spring, Fort Thomas, Highland Heights, and Newport approving fairness ordinances.
There has been an effort for a statewide fairness ordinance in the General Assembly, but the legislation has never received a vote.Â
The U.S. Senate is currently considering the national Equality Act, which recently passed the House, and would extend similar LGBTQ discrimination protections across the country.
-Staff report