Progress & Resistance: Conflict & Resolution on the Non-Discrimination Ordinance in Montevallo, Alabama

On April 23rd, 2018, the City of Montevallo, Alabama adopted an amendment to the municipal code which widened the protections from discrimination to people within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, or the LGBT+ community. The amendment to Article IV of Chapter 16 of the City of Montevallo’s Municipal Code was approved in a 4-2 vote by the city council.

The non-discrimination ordinance, or NDO, was initially proposed by the Montevallo Acceptance Project to Montevallo City Council on May 9th, 2016. Several months of forums, panels, and community discussions followed the proposal, and the non-discrimination ordinance went through many changes to better suit the needs of the LGBTQ+ community in Montevallo.

In our small community, professors, students, and residents of the town live in the areas surrounding the University of Montevallo, which encompasses the downtown area. As a relatively small town, Montevallo boasts a population of approximately 6,636. The University of Montevallo serves a student population of approximately 2,800.

Between May 9th, 2016 and April 23rd, 2018, a conflict arose in Montevallo which is worthy of discussion. Being the second city in the state of Alabama to pass a non-discrimination ordinance, Montevallo is setting the example for other towns across the United States to follow. Community collaboration on the non-discrimination ordinance allowed people of all beliefs and identities to join and discuss their differences, and appreciate their similarities. Through this project, we hope to provide a narrative path for our reader to understand the conflict and resolution through the creation, community deliberation, and passage of the non-discrimination ordinance.

Visit the History of the University of Montevallo and the City of Montevallo page next to learn more about the culture and circumstances which have shaped Montevallo into the unique community which it is today.

If you want to get straight to the details of the two year deliberation regarding the non-discrimination ordinance, click here.

This research project was made in affiliation with the Conflict in America course through the COPLACDigital program. COPLACDigital is a Mellon Foundation funded program that aims to offer students at liberal arts universities around the country to an opportunity network with other students and professors by engaging in unique course topics and creating research projects like this one.

This research project is an affiliation of COPLACDigital for the course Conflict in America. For more information about COPLACDigital, visit
http://coplacdigital.org/