As you have already heard -- the Athens Clarke County Commission voted UNANIMOUSLY Tuesday night to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the County's non-discrimination in employment ordinance. Many thanks and congratulations to EVERYONE -- all of you made it happen! In particular, we�d like to thank everyone who took the time to meet with a commissioner, to write or call in support of this item, and/or to show up at one of the commission meetings. We could not have done it without each and every one of you. A unanimous passage on the consent agenda is particularly meaningful this year, and the victory represents an important step toward equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and their families in the Athens-Clarke area.

In addition to approving the non-discrimination policy amendments, Mayor Davison took a very important step toward establishing a domestic partner benefit program for ACC employees by assigning the benefits issue to the Legislative Review Committee for evaluation. Elton Dodson heads the LRC committee with sitting members Commissioners Jordan, Maxwell, Hoard and Carter.

What you can do:

• PLEASE write Mayor Davison as soon as possible and thank her both for placing the non-discrimination ordinance issue on last night's agenda AND particularly for assigning the benefits issue to committee. Her decision to move the commission forward on benefits was courageous, especially during an election year, and she very much deserves to hear our thanks for her consistent support of the LGBT community. You can write to Heidi at mayor@athensclarkecounty.com (she'll be out of town for a few weeks, so email is better than calling.)
• Also, PLEASE take the time during the next week to write or call Elton Dodson, George Maxwell, Kathy Hoard, Charles Carter and/or Carl Jordan to express your support for the concept of extending domestic partner benefits to Athens-Clarke County employees. If the commissioner happens to represent your district, a call might be better than an email. Your advance support can really have an impact as we continue to talk about the issue this summer, so please let them know how you feel. Contact information for these commissioners is set forth below.

And of course, if you have the time, please call or write to your commissioner or all of the commissioners to thank them for their vote last night. Additional contact info can be found at http://www.athensclarkecounty.com/commission/.

Again, thanks so much to everyone for your support.

Just Equal

Charles Carter District 1
(706)543-9755 (h)
E-mail: charlescom@negia.net

George Maxwell District 3
(706)208-0686 (h)
E-mail: revgm@msn.com

Carl Jordan District 6
(706)548-6407 (h)
E-mail: carljordanacc@charter.net

Kathy Hoard District 7
(706)353-1918 (h)
E-mail: khoard@charter.net

Elton Dodson District 10
(706) 543-7880 (h) / (706) 549-9294 (w)
E-mail: elton@dodsonlaw.com