MACON, Ga. — Commissioners approved the anti-discrimination ordinance 5-4 Tuesday night after long debates over the past week and a public hearing Tuesday afternoon.
Commissioners Valerie Wynn, Mallory Jones, Joe Allen and Scotty Shepherd voted against. Commissioners Elaine Lucas, Virgil Watkins Jr., Larry Schlesinger, Bert Bivins, and Al Tillman voted in favor.
Cheers erupted from the crowd of people waiting outside the Government Center Tuesday night. The ordinance that will ban businesses from discriminating against a variety of factors passed commission.
Now, it's in Mayor Robert Reichert's office waiting to be signed.
The vote comes after a day of people advocating for and against the ordinance.
Earlier Tuesday afternoon, around 50 people marched from Taste and See coffee shop to the Government Center, where they prayed and spoke out against the ordinance.
"It says in scripture male and female, God created male and female. In terms of a healthy marriage, to listen to, abide by what God has called us to," said Nick Morgan, who opposed the ordinance.
Later in the evening, dozens of people gathered in Rosa Parks Square, listening into the meeting and sharing words of inspiration on fighting for equal rights.
"It's what our community needs. Our community needs equality now and needs equality tomorrow and it needs equality forever," said DeMarcus Beckham, who pushed commissioners to pass the ordinance.
The ordinance would ban discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on race, religion, color, sex, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity or military status. Under the ordinance, businesses cannot discriminate by withholding any goods, services or accommodations.
Though the ordinance protects against many kinds of discrimination, the focus in the public hearing Tuesday afternoon turned to sexual orientation and gender identity and how giving those extra protections affects individual's religious beliefs.
"What do I tell my Christian friends who are Christian bakers, florists, and photographers who feel that they cannot participate in same-sex weddings due to their religious beliefs? Based on the language of this bill, they will be in violation of the law," said a woman who spoke against the ordinance during the hearing.
"I believe the call to love God with all that we are and love our neighbor as ourselves is the beating heart of the gospel. It should be the lens of which all other scriptures and inform everything we do. The Golden Rule I believe should be the same standard as a common life together. I strongly believe these deeply held Christian beliefs are very much in line with this ordinance which is an important and long overdue step in offering local protection to certain vulnerable populations and historically discriminated against populations in our community," said Pastor Scott Dickinson, senior pastor at the First Baptist Church of Christ in Macon.
DeMarcus Beckham who pushed for the commission to pass the ordinance says though it passed, this is not the end of fighting for equal rights.
"This is just a stepping block to making sure Macon is a place where people can live freely, work freely, and indulge in some sort of commerce without free or retribution," Beckham said.