Antidiscrimination ordinance changes back on table for Arlington City Council

Roughly eight months after the city council came to a split decision on Arlington’s antidiscrimination ordinance, leaders say residents can expect to see discussion around the issue return.

During a September council meeting, Mayor Jim Ross asked city staff to place a previously proposed version of the ordinance on the agenda for discussion. Later, during an Oct. 1 town hall, he told residents he wanted them and new council members to have another chance to weigh in.

“It is not a typical standard thing to be readdressing an ordinance that soon, it’s not. But is it necessary? Some might agree with me that it is,” Ross said.

In 2025, the council went through a slew of votes to change and remove programs or language in city processes that were considered to be advancing diversity, equity and inclusion.

The changes came at the recommendation of the city attorney’s office after Arlington lost a federal grant. The grant was rescinded after a federal directive threatened funding for cities that kept DEI programs.

City Manager Trey Yelverton said at the time roughly $65 million in federal funding was at risk if the city was found to be noncompliant. 

The original ordinance was passed in 2021, creating a structure for city staff to investigate claims of discrimination against protected classes, both included in and beyond the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and later mediate the situation. 

Two classes in particular, gender identity and sexual orientation, are not explicitly named in the act but were included in the ordinance.

However, the council voted to suspend the ordinance in September 2025. In February of this year, after multiple votes and changes, the council passed a new ordinance that drew criticism from advocates and local LGBTQ+ leaders.

The revised ordinance removed the investigation and mediation mechanisms, instead having staff direct residents’ claims to state or federal authorities, and deferred to the Civil Rights Act for its coverage.

When the discussion is taken up again, the language of the ordinance is expected to be familiar to council members.

In December 2025, a version of the original was proposed with a clause that would suspend the ordinance if it was found to be in violation of federal grant requirements by a court order or legal opinion from the state or federal attorney general. 

That version failed, 5-4. 

Asked by a resident on Oct. 1 if something had changed since September 2025 with respect to the federal funding risks, Ross said the December 2025 version would have kept the city safe.

“A majority of council felt that we should change the ordinance to make some adjustments to it,” Ross said. “I did not believe we should have changed that ordinance.”

DeeJay Johannessen, the CEO of the HELP Center for LGBTQ+ Health, also gave praise to the version that will come back to the council. Johannessen, whose organization hosts the city’s annual Pride celebration, led a charge against the ordinance’s suspension.

“It allowed those original protections to happen on a local level, and it also allowed the city to be protected, which was good,” Johannessen said. “It was, in my opinion, the best of all outcomes.”

However, the ordinance itself has come under scrutiny from council members and residents who say it doesn’t have enough teeth.

One resident in attendance at the town hall meeting asked Ross if the city could add a punishment clause to the ordinance in the case a city staff member finds discrimination occurred.

Ross responded that the city can only do so much.

“Putting that type of mechanism in place for a municipality isn’t going to be permitted; you can’t do that type of stuff,” Ross said. “Our only teeth is to do an investigation and say ‘I’m sorry.’”

That lack of enforceability is what led some council members to vote against reinstating the December proposal in 2025. 

Council member Bowie Hogg, who voted ‘no’ then, said he felt the ordinance didn’t provide actual protections and wasn’t needed for that reason. He added that there had not been a discrimination complaint submitted to city staff under the ordinance between 2021 and 2025.

“We have an ordinance that’s a resolution,” Hogg said in 2025. “It’s not really an ordinance because an ordinance without enforcement is not a law.”

During the town hall meeting, Hogg again leaned into the lack of enforceability and cited his February vote for a resolution against discrimination.

“I believe it is a governance issue, and where it comes from,” Hogg told residents. “I believe it is a resolution. There’s outcomes at the state and federal level, and there’s protections.”

When discussing why he’s bringing the ordinance back to a vote, Ross said there are three new members of the council who should have a chance to weigh in.

In May, council members Tom Ware and Brittney Garcia-Dumas were elected to their seats. A month later, council member Jason Shelton won his runoff election. After that, Johannessen announced the HELP Center would host the 2027 Arlington Pride event, a year after the 2026 iteration was canceled over the ordinance’s suspension.

During an interview with the Arlington Report, Johannessen said the May election results showed an appetite for inclusivity from residents and that hunger informed his decision to bring the annual event back.

Garcia-Dumas, who was also in attendance at the Oct. 1 town hall meeting, said she would support bringing back the proposed December 2025 ordinance.

“That sent a clear message of what Arlington really represents and the American Dream City,” Garcia-Dumas said. “It also protected us for those federal funds, so that’s a no-brainer to me.”

Chris Moss is a reporter for the Arlington Report. Contact him at [email protected].

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