Dustin Barnes

The Clarion-Ledger

During a 3-1 vote on Tuesday, the Jackson City Council approved a resolution affirming the equality of all residents, including the city's LGBT community.

Jackson becomes the most recent city to approve a similar resolution, and is now Mississippi's largest city to support equality for its LGBT residents. The movement in the state began in Starkville this past January, and so far has spread to cities across the state, including Oxford, Hattiesburg, Greenville, Bay St. Louis and tiny Magnolia.

"It's important for the city of Jackson to stand with other cities in the state on this issue," said Councilman Melvin Priester Jr, who co-authored the resolution. "I want Jackson to look back and be able to say it was on the right side of history, especially when the Starkvilles and the cities in the north and on the coast have already adopted this."

Priester said he has witnessed the discrimination of individuals based on their sexual orientation, calling it an ugly truth and one the city must be willing to stand against.

Joining Priester in his "yay" vote were Councilwoman Margaret Barett-Simon and Council President Charles Tillman, who co-sponsored the resolution with Priester.

"We said when we were elected, we were going to represent the public," said Tillman. "And the public is every human being."

Barrett-Simon applauded the measure, saying she has been wanting to see a resolution before the Council soon.

The lone dissenting vote was Councilwoman Larita Cooper-Stokes, who did not publicly speak out against the resolution, but did vote against it.

Absent from Tuesday's meeting of the City Council were members Quentin Whitwell and De'Keither Stamps.

While the resolution is non-binding, it does formally announce the city as a supporter of non-discrimination based on a variety of factors, including sexual orientation and gender identity.

The move have been spreading across the state over the last few months, and just last month the nation's largest LGBT rights organization, the Human Rights Campaign, set up offices in Mississippi as part of its three-year project to change attitudes toward the LGBT community in the deeply conservative South.