A Brief History

The City of Gainesville enacted an ordinance generally prohibiting discrimination within the City of Gainesville on the basis of race, sex, religion, and other classifications in the 1970s.

The City Commission added sexual orientation to the classifications protected by the ordinance on June 1, 1998.

The City of Gainesville and Alachua County entered into an interlocal agreement whereby the County agreed to extend its human rights ordinance to include the corporate limits of the City of Gainesville to cover the protected classifications in the Citys Discrimination Ordinance with the exception of sexual orientation on September 26, 2000. The City continued to cover the protected classifications in the Citys Discrimination Ordinance for City employees.

Gainesville residents approved a charter amendment that reorganized the Citys Equal Opportunity Department, making the position of Equal Opportunity Director a Charter Officer position reporting directly to the City Commission on November 5, 2002.

Effective January 1, 2004 the City began to again enforce, file, process and hear complaints of discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, and credit; relating to race, color, gender, age, religion, national origin, marital status and disability within the corporate limits of the City of Gainesville.

The City Commission selected the first Equal Opportunity Director for the reorganized Charter Office on February 12, 2004.