Athens-Clarke County has been declared a “safe haven” for members of the LGBTQIA+ community after the county Commission passed a resolution Tuesday night.
At Tuesday night’s Commission meeting, over thirty members of the public expressed support for a resolution to declare Athens-Clarke County a “safe haven” for LGBTQIA+ people, and to recommit the county’s People and Belonging Department to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community.
After little discussion, the Commission voted to pass the resolution 6 to 2. Commissioner Jesse Houle of the 6th District is an author of the resolution. A member of the LGBTQIA+ community, they said the resolution was a show of solidarity during a harrowing time for LGBTQIA+ people.
“I am a person who’s scared. I am a person who is afraid of facing tomorrow alone. Should we move out of the state, out of the South, with what’s coming, with what’s happening?” Commissioner Jesse Houle said at the meeting.
Commissioners John Culpepper of the 7th district and Ovita Thornton of the 9th District were the only two members of the body to vote no. Commissioner Thornton said during the meeting that she did not have enough information to conclude that the resolution was necessary.
“How does HRC handle these kinds of issues? The social issues, we had created, I thought, a path to deal with. I have to have a clearer understanding of some of these social justice resolutions,” Commissioner Thornton said at the meeting.
Commissioners Tiffany Taylor of the 3rd District and Dexter Fisher of the 5th District were not present for the meeting.