Courtesy Cheryl Kolbe / Robert Aughenbaugh Supporters of Portland’s ordinance extending civil rights protections to non-religious residents pose for a photo on Feb. 13, when the issue was first presented to the city council. Cheryl Kolbe (left) is the president of the Portland area chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and Amanda Fritz (second from left) is a Portland City Council commissioner.

The Portland, Oregon, City Council has approved a measure extending civil rights protections to atheist, agnostic and other nonreligious residents.

The council’s unanimous vote on Wednesday ensures that nonreligious people are explicitly protected from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation.

“By passing this ordinance, we’re sending a message that we value nonbelievers and affirm that protections of our civil rights code extends to them,” Commissioner Amanda Fritz said during the council meeting. “With this declaration, perhaps more nonbelievers will feel less fearful of being themselves in the open.”

The vote amends the definition of religion in Portland’s city code to include atheism, agnosticism and other forms of nonbelief.

Fritz said she thinks the only other U.S. city to adopt similar protections for nonreligious people is Madison, Wisconsin.

The proposal was initiated by Portland’s chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national organization that promotes the separation of church and state. Oregon’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and local secular groups also supported it.

Cheryl Kolbe, the president of the FFRF’s Portland chapter, told HuffPost that the City Council’s decision affirms that nonbelievers have the same protections against discrimination that religious residents have.

“This change is not about what is better, nonreligion or religion,” she wrote in an email. “It is about protection against discrimination.”