SANDPOINT — The City Council voted 4-3, with Mayor Jeremy Grimm breaking a tie, to amend the city’s non-discrimination ordinance on Wednesday.

The council voted after three hours of public comment and an hour of deliberation. Councilors Joel Aispuro, Rick Howarth and Justin Dick voted in favor while Council President Deb Ruehle and councilors Pam Duquette and Kyle Schreiber voted against the amendments.  

Both Duquette and Schreiber put forward motions to delay making amendments to the code. Schreiber said he felt that the issue should be put forward to voters as a referendum, but both of their motions failed by the same voting lines with Grimm breaking the tie by voting ‘No.’ 

Grimm said the former ordinance passed in 2011 extended the city’s reach and opened it up to costly litigation. The new city code will mirror state and federal law, which Grimm said will remove Sandpoint from the center of a far-reaching cultural debate. 

Those in support of the ordinance said that it provided further protections for the LGBTQ+ community than state and federal laws and that the amendment process was rushed.  

The issue was brought to council follow an incident at the Litehouse YMCA where a lifeguard said she saw a “semi-dressed” man in the women’s locker room. The YMCA said its locker room procedures followed Sandpoint’s non-discrimination ordinance.  

Under current Idaho law, residents must use bathrooms consistent with their gender at birth at specific locations like K-12 schools. In a 2020 Supreme Court decision, the court ruled that discrimination because of sex does include gender identity and sexual orientation.  

In a joint statement issued last Monday, Idaho state Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, said the Supreme Court is set to rule on the issue in the coming months. Schreiber said it's his understanding that the Idaho Legislature will be taking up the issue at its next session.