City of Salem Non-Discrimination Ordinance Signing Ceremony (Public Event)

Salem, MA – Renowned for a tragic episode of discrimination and persecution in 1692, the City of Salem will soon take the historic step of establishing an all-encompassing policy of non-discrimination. On Monday, March 3rd, Mayor Kim Driscoll will host an Ordinance Signing Ceremony in Salem City Hall’s City Council Chambers at 5:30 P.M. Mayor Driscoll will welcome members of the Salem City Council, the Salem No Place for Hate Committee – the group responsible for initiating the ordinance – and nearly 40 Salem organizations and individuals who endorsed and/or gave testimony in support of the non-discrimination ordinance that passed the City Council on Thursday night by a unanimous vote. This event is open to the media and general public. Once the Ordinance is signed by the Mayor, Salem will become only the fifth community in Massachusetts and the first on the North Shore to extend protections against discrimination for the transgender community in the matter of public accommodations. The new Ordinance will serve to welcome all people who visit, live, and work in the City of Salem – no matter who they are, where they are from, or who they are perceived to be. WHAT: Non-Discrimination Ordinance Signing Ceremony WHEN: Monday, March 3, 2014 at 5:30 P.M. WHERE: Salem City Hall, City Council Chambers, 93 Washington Street Who: Mayor Kim Driscoll Members of the Salem City Council Salem No Place for Hate Committee Invited Members of the Salem Non-Discrimination Coalition: State Senator Joan Lovely State Representative John Keenan Governor’s Councillor Eileen Duff Salem Police Chief Paul Tucker Salem State University President Patricia Maguire Meservey Salem Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rinus Oosthoek Reverend Jeff Barz-Snell, The First Church of Salem, Unitarian Reverend Laura Biddle, Salem State University Chaplain Pastor Phil Wyman, The Gathering at Salem Hate Crimes Victims Advocate Jeff Cohen Go Out Loud HAWC (Healing Abuse, Working for Change) Human Rights Campaign Boston Independent Living Center of the North Shore & Cape Ann Latino Leadership Coalition MassEquality Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) North East Transwomens Alliance (NETA) Northeast Arc North Shore Alliance of LGBT Youth (NAGLY) North Shore Community Development Coalition North Shore Elder Services & Over the Rainbow Coalition North Shore Pride Parents United of Salem Proud Parents of the North Shore Salem Award Foundation Salem Commission on Disabilities