Arlington City Council voted 5-4 against reinstating its anti-discrimination ordinance following months of delays and debate over the inclusion of LGBTQ protections.

The vote included a proposed clause that would suspend any section of the rules in violation of federal grant requirements as determined by a court order or legal opinion from the state or federal attorney general.

That language was added in response to concerns that the city could lose federal funding with the ordinance on the books.

The decision came after about an hour of public comments in which 41 people asked the council to reinstate protections and 11 spoke against the ordinance.

Council members Mauricio Galante, Raul Gonzalez, Rebecca Boxall, Long Pham and Bowie Hogg voted to continue the suspension of protections

See Full Page