Equality Project to honor Chattanooga Councilman Chris Anderson

photo Chris Anderson

The Tennessee Equality Project will honor Chattanooga Councilman Chris Anderson, AT&T Tennessee and Vanderbilt University as Champions of Equality at Olympus, which is the organization's annual gala event.

This year's gala is scheduled to take place at the Parthenon in Nashville on Sept. 19, according to a news release.

Anderson is being honored as a first-term council member who introduced partner benefits and a nondiscrimination ordinance for city government employees. Anderson is the first openly gay elected official to win a contested race for a legislative body in Tennessee.

AT&T is being honored for its work in policies that include the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. AT&T worked to play a significant role in defusing the "Turn the Gays Away" bill in the 108th General Assembly.

Vanderbilt University is being honored for offering policies that are inclusive of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. The university has defended these policies against attacks in the General Assembly.

"Our 2014 Champions of Equality highlight the importance of workplace protections for LGBT people in Tennessee," said Chris Sanders, executive director of the Tennessee Equality Project, in a news release. "As the courts bring us closer to a decision on marriage equality, we still have much to do to protect our community from discrimination at work. We celebrate Councilman Chris Anderson, AT&T and Vanderbilt for advancing protections that make the workplace truly inclusive."

The community is invited to participate in the gala on Sept. 19, and tickets are available at http://www.olympustep.org.

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