Palm Bay city leaders are expecting a large crowd Thursday night to both support and oppose a measure designed to protect members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Supporters claim the Human Rights Ordinance protects the LGBT community from being discriminated against in the workplace, public and at home.

"You could have your wedding in your backyard, and Monday morning, your landlord legally evicts you because he doesn't want to rent to a gay couple," said Bill Rettinger, who has been with his partner for 32 years. "Is that right?"

Rettinger has spent months pressing the Palm Bay City Council to approve the ordinance to ensure gays wouldn't be fired from their jobs or evicted from their homes because of their sexuality.

But opponents, including Councilman Harry Santiago, said the rights of the LGBT community are already guaranteed.

"I believe those rights are protected by federal or state laws," Santiago said, adding that his main concern about the ordinance is that it allows transgender people to use whichever bathroom they feel most comfortable with.

"This ordinance would allow men to use the women's bathroom — men who are still anatomically male — to use the women's bathroom without being checked or without being hindered at all," Santiago said. "And I find that to be a concern — a great concern for the safety and welfare of women and especially children."

Santiago said he is afraid some men will use the ordinance to access a women's bathroom to take photographs or cause harm.

Rettinger said that's fear-mongering.

"We're human just like everybody else and those kinds of actions would disgust us the same as it would disgust any other person," he said. "We'd be the first people to stand up and take action against it."

Religious leaders in Brevard County are also concerned they would have to follow the rules of the ordinance, which would go against their religious practices.

Councilwoman Michele Paccione, who introduced the ordinance, said she plans to amend the ordinance to exempt religious institutions.

Palm Bay would be the first city in Brevard County to approve the Human Rights Ordinance. It has already passed in several other Central Florida communities.

The Palm Bay City Council meets at 7 p.m.

City staff is expecting a large crowd, so doors to the council chambers will open at 6:15 p.m.

"Once the council chambers are at capacity, attendees can still participate in the meeting in the City Hall courtyard," officials said.