TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa City Councilors voted down changing human rights ordinances to make them more consistent across the municipal code.
The vote was four in favor, three against, one abstain, and one absent.
The Oklahoma Association of General Contractors says it's against any new language.
Executive Director Bobby Stem says part of that is because construction contracts in Tulsa are complex. He believes if the city starts making them more involved with additional ordinance language, contractors could back out, or it could take longer for projects to be complete.
Stem made clear with 2 News that he believes in equal opportunities in the workforce but does not want it to be political.
"We don't need politics behind the barrels. It's a dangerous place to be. We must be delivering these services for Tulsans," Stem said.
Last week, the Tulsa City Council considered an ordinance introduced by District 4 City Councilor Crista Patrick and backed by Oklahomans for Equality. It would provide more consistent language regarding protection from age, disability, gender expression, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, race, and religion throughout the municipal code.
According to Stem, none of that concerns roads and bridges. He firmly believes that no matter what a worker's skin color or gender identification is - as long as they are hard workers, that is good enough for him. But where Stem says they could get in the way is when specific human rights language is mandated to be on a contract.
"The fact that it is that population - we find ourselves with our own contracts becoming part of lawsuits that only distract us from our mission," Stem said. "Our mission is to get out there and fix streets for Tulsans. It's not to get out there to adjust our contract to make everyone happy."
Dorothy Ballard, executive director of Oklahomans for Equality, says the whole point of the ordinance change is to codify language.
"They're getting hung up on the language," Ballard said. "But we're being specific in the way the federal government has recently come specific in their language. Sexual orientation and gender expression now fall under the generation of sex."
Oklahomans for Equality says Tulsa is not a place for hate or discrimination -and no city should be - and that needs to be made clear across all entities in the Tulsa area, including city contractors.
The AOGC says they favor a broad statement protecting equal rights on all contracts, but Oklahomans for Equality said the language needs to be updated and consistent and ensure all Tulsans are protected from discrimination.
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