I recently wrote to Mayor Linda Kavanagh, asking that discussion of a non-discrimination ordinance be placed on the agenda for the next Town Council meeting.

Council member Ginny Dickey has proposed such an ordinance, and I applaud her for doing so. Tempe, Flagstaff, Tucson and Phoenix have enacted these ordinances and have been praised by the editorial board of The Arizona Republic for doing so.

The Scottsdale City Council has also approved a unity pledge in support of workplace equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, which could be codified into law.

Mayor Kavanagh responded to my letter and also to one from my husband. In both responses, she indicated that she felt an ordinance would be “best handled at the state level.”

Really? The mayor will not even entertain a Town Council discussion of a non-discrimination ordinance?

What message does this send? Namely, that Fountain Hills simply doesn’t care about the critical issue of human rights and equality under the law. This is indeed a friendly, welcoming town most of the time, to most people – but human nature is such that discrimination does indeed exist. To say it doesn’t is to deny reality.

We respectfully ask that the mayor and other council members reconsider and place on the next Town Council meeting agenda a discussion of a non-discrimination ordinance to ensure fairness toward all who live in our beautiful town.