Human Relations Commission backs draft bias-motivated ordinance, asks council to refine protections

The York City Human Relations Commission on Feb. 16 agreed to endorse a proposed bias-motivated conduct ordinance and asked the City Council to refine the listing of protected classes and to specify that the city’s authority apply to incidents occurring within city limits.

Council member Ryan Soupler presented the draft, saying, “This item came about due to the alleged gay bashing that happened in the city last summer,” and described the proposal as a local measure to extend protections beyond what the state Ethnic Intimidations Act covers. Soupler told commissioners the draft (proposed series 700, draft 703) would explicitly reference categories such as sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression and would give the city an enforcement mechanism even though it cannot create new state crimes.

Commissioners raised clarifying questions about the exact list of protected characteristics in the draft, noting differences in wording between the proposed ordinance and existing city code (for example, the draft uses “gender expression” while other sections use “gender identification,” and ethnicity and cultural hairstyles are treated differently across documents). One commissioner asked that the ordinance explicitly state it applies to incidents that occur within city limits; Soupler said that language could be added. Commissioners also discussed which agency would enforce any new administrative penalties; Soupler said he had received positive feedback about police department involvement but that alternatives such as a codes department had also been discussed.

The Commission voted to endorse moving the draft forward to the next stage of review, with a recommendation to reconcile protected-class definitions with existing ordinance language and to clarify jurisdictional scope. Soupler said he intended to carry the Commission’s feedback back to City Council or a council committee for consideration.