Dubuque mayor calls special council meeting to restore protections for trans residents

The Dubuque City Council recently voted on updates to the city’s Code of Ordinances, specifically focusing on the Human Rights Department. However, Mayor Brad Cavanagh revealed that the updated ordinance left “gender identity” off the list of protected groups. Mayor Cavanagh addressed the issue in a Facebook post, stating, “Based on the information presented to the City Council and the public on last night’s agenda, it was my understanding that this ordinance change focused entirely on changing the name of the Human Rights Department and several positions within that department. Unfortunately, there were other substantial language changes within the ordinance that were not made clear, and that I missed at the time of the vote. I learned today that the new ordinance language omitted ‘gender identity’ from the list of protected groups in Dubuque.” In response to the oversight, Mayor Cavanagh has scheduled a special council meeting on Monday night to address the omission. The mayor expressed his apologies to the transgender community in Dubuque. He assured residents that he would vote to reinstate gender identity in the Human Rights ordinance and work to improve the clarity of future ordinance presentations.