The City of Montevallo set a shining representation of how a city should react to the needs of their communities. From the beginning, the City Council was open to the idea of a non-discrimination ordinance. This idea was created by a group of individuals in the community who felt there was a need for this policy within our community, and devised a plan to execute their request for the ordinance.
The involvement of the community was central to the creation, deliberation, and passage of the non-discrimination ordinance. Without the Montevallo constituency’s interest in this topic, and the experiences of LGBTQIA+ people in our city, this ordinance would have gone no further than the Montevallo Acceptance Project. Although there was push back from more traditionalist members of our community, their participation in deliberation proved that they were interested in becoming involved in their community.
Opposition participation was essential to creating an ordinance which would be widely accepted and enforceable. Although some minds remained unchanged about the rights and, at times, existence of LGBTQIA+ members in the Montevallo community, the greater Montevallo constituency agreed that this was a necessary measure to protect a vulnerable group. These protections have afforded Montevallo community members, students, University faculty, staff, community members and residents, as well as visitors, the ability to express themselves as they wish.
Although Montevallo was already known as a progressive rural city, the feat of becoming the second city in the state of Alabama to pass a non-discrimination ordinance is a recognizable accomplishment. Communities outside of ours can learn effective forms of community engagement and deliberation from the City of Montevallo and their execution of a non-discrimination ordinance. Engaging the community to participate in events where their opinions will be considered and countered provides an opportunity to open a discussion on the topic of LGBTQIA+ rights, which is still often viewed as a largely taboo topic.
We hope the City of Montevallo will continue to strive for acceptance, and to be a place where any individual, regardless of identity or orientation, can enjoy respite from large city living.