New policies protecting LGBTQ people in employment and hiring have gone into effect for the Jacksonville, Florida Sheriff’s Office.
“The addition of these protections at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and our other key public employers are important steps on the path to full equality in Jacksonville,” Dan Merkan, chairman of Jacksonville Coalition for Equality, told The Florida-Times Union. “The Jacksonville Coalition for Equality will continue to work towards the day where every hard-working resident of Jacksonville will no longer have to worry about losing their job because of who they are.”
In January, Mayor Lenny Curry issued a Mayoral Directive to protect City employees and contractors against employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. The Mayoral Directive went into effect in April. In the months since, the city’s four major independent authorities — agencies that are part of the city government but separate from City Hall — have followed suit. Those include JEA, JaxPort, the Jacksonville Aviation Authority and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority.
For several years, the Human Rights Campaign, along with Equality Florida and Jacksonville Area Sexual Minority Youth Network (JASMYN) as part of the Jacksonville Coalition for Equality, a local Jacksonville coalition, continue to build public support for city-wide LGBT protections.
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