Woodford County, Kentucky, became the first county in 20 years to pass a Fairness Ordinance, according to the Fairness Campaign.
The ordinance passed 5-to-3. Woodford County joins Fayette and Jefferson to become the third Kentucky county to pass a fairness ordinance, which prohibits discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community. The county is also now the 18th municipality in the commonwealth with protections for LGBTQ persons.
Woodford County Magistrate Liles Taylor said in a statement that the ordinance was “a significant stride in ensuring that all members of our communities are protected from discrimination.”
“Because of community leaders like those in Midway and Versailles, we’re seeing growing momentum for Fairness in cities across the Commonwealth. But as a rural state, many community members are left unprotected from discrimination simply because they live and/or work outside the city limits,” Taylor said. “This victory for equality will hopefully spark other counties to do the same.”
Taylor told The Courier Journal he didn’t want to see discrimination in his community.
“I had conversations with some of the other members of the Fiscal Court when we first took office, and I was looking for the right time to take up the issue,” he said. “So when the City of Versailles passed their ordinance, I thought it was an opportune time to continue the conversation into county government.”
Grayson Vandgrift, the mayor of Midway, Kentucky, which is in Woodford County, wrote on Twitter that he was “so proud” the ordinance passed. “You can’t spell Y’all without all,” he wrote.
Woodford County has a population of around 26,300 and is outside of Lexington. Midway and Versailes, which are both incorporated cities in Woodford County, both adopted Fairness Ordinances in 2015 and 2019.
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Written by Sarah Ladd. Cross-posted from the
Courier-Journal via the Kentucky Press News Service.