JACKSON, MI - Six hours and 156 public commenters later, the Jackson City Council approved a long-debated non-discrimination ordinance 5-2 early Wednesday morning at the Michigan Theatre of Jackson.

Council members Derek Dobies, Freddie Dancy, Andrew Frounfelker, Arlene Robinson and Daniel Greer voted yes. Mayor Bill Jors and Craig Pappin voted no.

Of the five hours of citizen comment, 88 spoke in favor, 66 spoke against and two did not share their views on the NDO. There were 676 people in attendance for the meeting.

A map of municipalities in Michigan with non-discrimination ordinances for the LGBT community, as of June 30, 2016. Since then, Lake Orion and now Jackson can be added to the list.

The ordinance prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations. If no conciliation agreement is made between parties, a civil infraction is issued with a fine of up to $500 per each day of the violation.

"It feels great," Dobies said after the vote. "I think a lot of people have been talking about these issues for a very long time. Tonight was the culmination of 20 years of those conversations. And council listened."

Greer, the longest active serving councilman, had voted "no" at the first reading of the ordinance Jan. 24. He had voted against an NDO numerous times since it first came up to City Council in 1999.

"I have taken another round of consideration since the last meeting," Greer said before Tuesday's meeting. "It's been an issue that has caused me to open my mind probably further than I ever have."

The meeting, which started at 6:30 p.m., ended at 12:24 a.m.

About the ordinance

The ordinance amends Article III, Chapter 15 of Jackson's Code of Ordinances. It goes into effect in 30 days.

All complaints must be filed within 30 days of the incident to the city's Human Relations Commission. From there, complaints are forwarded to the city attorney's office for action.

The HRC must provide a report on the complaints received every year to City Council, as well as the actions taken, per the ordinance. There is no private cause of action section in the ordinance, meaning individuals cannot sue based on the city's civil infraction.

The ordinance also prohibits discrimination based on other factors already included in the city and state legislation, including race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, height, weight, marital status, physical or mental disability and family status. These cases would continue to be enforced at a state or national level.

Exceptions for the ordinance include the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and religion.

The issue first surfaced in Jackson in 1998 with the HRC. It passed the first reading at City Council 4-3 in 1999, but didn't make it to a vote for the second reading. It came back up multiple times in the 18 years since.

Spirit of the debate

At past meetings, there were very few citizens opposing the ordinance - including only three of the 86 total speakers at the previous meeting.

The large portion of speakers Tuesday night had varying reasons, including business, constitutionality, conflicts of interest and religion.

"We are in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah," said Bishop Ricky Hogan, pastor of The Rock of Salvation Apostolic Church. "You will be cursed, you could be cursed by God if you pass this ordinance. I beg and plead that you do not pass this ordinance."

Many clergy members and people of faith attended the meeting, but were split on their convictions.

"If this violated freedom of religion, was bad for business, created excessive litigation, or was costly, there would be proof," said the Rev. Cynthia Landrum, minister at the Universalist Unitarian Church of East Liberty. "But the results from our city's 20-year study of the 40 cities with NDOs are in and show this is not the case."

The conversations, at times, turned into religious debate. While some quoted bible verses saying homosexuality was wrong, others quoted Jesus and his call to love one another. Others called for religion to be excluded from the debate altogether.

"Jesus said 'Serve your fellow man,'" one commenter said. "Not 'Deny them cake.'"

Many people didn't understand the freedom of religion exemption, Dobies said. Though the ordinance has passed, Dobies said this proves there's still work to be done.

"A lot of the conversations that I had with people that were opposed, (people) had gotten some misinformation," Dobies said. "It's incumbent on us to actually go out and explain that there are certain exemptions and how the ordinance actually works."