Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyPosts Tagged As: Non-discrimination
March 24th, 2009
So say the voters in Gainesville, Florida. The proposed city charter amendment which would have legalized firing gay people or denying them housing has gone down in flames. A defeat of 42% to 58% for Amendment 1 is pretty resounding and satisfying.
February 24th, 2009
We’ve followed dozens of measures around the country to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. But never before not since Colorado’s Amendment 2 (which was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1996) have we seen a ballot measure which would actually legalize discrimination:
…a city charter amendment has been drafted by a Michigan group that would take away Gainesville’s local power to establish our own equal opportunity laws.
There has been a false fear-based campaign to cloak the true impact of this amendment that would damage people’s lives and diminish our community.
This amendment, if passed, would prohibit Gainesville from providing antidiscrimination protections not included in specific statutes of Florida law. This charter amendment would make it perfectly legal to fire someone or deny housing just because of sexual orientation or gender identity, since these protections are not in county, state or federal law. It would also be impossible for Gainesville to add protections for political affiliation or economic status.
The proposed charter amendment is in reaction to the passage of the 2008 Gender Identity Ordinance, which added a prohibition on discrimination based on gender identity or expression.
Update: Okay, I wrote this way too late last night. There have been plenty of instances where voters have decided to discriminate where discrimination had been outlawed previously. Our commenters are counting the ways. Go ahead and add your example to the list.
[Hat tip: Dan Savage]
February 3rd, 2009
Last week, a Utah Senate committee killed a bill allowing individuals who rely on a breadwinner to sue for wrongful death. The vote to kill the measure was on a strict LDS-membership vote. Equality Utah isn’t taking that set back lying down.
Over the weekend EQ UT began a billboard, radio and newspaper ad campaign reminding Utah legislators of the LDS statement that there is “common ground” on some rights for same-sex couples short of marriage. The newspaper ads appeared in The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret New. Equality Utah’s Common Ground initiative seized on the LDS statement and proposed five specific bills for the Utah legislature’s consideration:
January 13th, 2009
We were very excited last month to learn that the Kalamazoo, Michigan, city commission voted unanimously to expand their anti-discrimination ordinance to include sexual orientation. But right away, the American Family Association of Michigan responded by announcing an effort to repeal the entire ordinance.
Well, last night after the AFA Michigan submitted petitions with 1,600 signatures, the commission voted 7-0 to rescind the law rather than have it go before the voters. Commissioner Stephanie Minor said, “We knew it would be rescinded on the basis that we were going to come back, reconvene, look at the ordinance and strengthen it, clarify it, and bring it back before the commission to bring it back.” The commission hopes to have a retooled ordinance back for a vote in February. Stay tuned.
January 5th, 2009
Last month, we were happy to note that the city council of Kalamazoo, Michigan, voted to adopt an expanded anti-discrimination ordinance that makes it a municipal civil infraction to discriminate against gays, lesbians and transgender citizens. Now we learn that the anti-gay minions of the American Family Association of Michigan are working to overturn the ordinance:
City Clerk Scott Borling said former city commissioner and current Kalamazoo County Treasurer Mary Balkema officially turned over 189 pages of petitions that circulators said contained about 1,600 signatures to overturn the ordinance. …Under the charter, if sufficient signatures are certified next week, the ordinance is immediately suspended and the Kalamazoo City Commission must either repeal the entire ordinance or put it on the ballot for city voters to decide.
December 2nd, 2008
From the Kalamazoo Gazette:
The Kalamazoo City Commission voted 7-0 Monday night to adopt an expanded anti-discrimination ordinance that makes it a municipal civil infraction to discriminate against gays, lesbians and transgender citizens.
The ordinance makes it illegal to use sexual orientation to discriminate in housing, public accommodations and employment and carries a fine of $500.
November 6th, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama’s transition office is hiring, and they’ve posted their job application form on the web. This is your chance to work for the White House. And guess what? In the new administration, you’ll be protected from discrimination regardless of your sexual orientation or gender identity:
The Obama-Biden Transition Project does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other basis of discrimination prohibited by law.
This statement goes above and beyond the legal requirements. Currently employers are free to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Gender Identity is not included in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s policy on non-discrimination. The Bush administration’s appointments page does not contain a non-discrimination policy.
Things are already looking up.
[Hat tip: Connecticut Employment Law Blog]
September 2nd, 2008
Annually, HRC grades businesses on their policies regarding LGBT equality. And at least partly as a result of HRC’s public dissemination of this information, each year more companies change their personnel policies to accomodate their gay employees.
Check out this year’s listing and see if you need to be a bit more productive today in appreciation (or, alternately, call in sick tomorrow with a hangnail).
August 20th, 2008
If you are a Louisiana State department head that wished to rid your taxpayer funded office of gay people, you only have to wait until after Friday. That’s when an anti-discrimination order put in place by former Governor Kathleen Blanco expires. And current Governor Piyush “Bobby” Jindal has no intention of renewing it. (Forbes)
The order – enacted by Blanco on Dec. 6, 2004 – bars state agencies and contractors from various sorts of harassment and discrimination by race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation or disabilities.
Jindal says that he only wants to protect from discrimination those categories that are protected by Federal or state law. And neither federal nor Louisiana state law protect gay persons from blatant intentional discrimination.
Jindal has a reason for making sure that anti-gay discrimination is perfectly legal in Louisiana. It could cause problems with faith-based organizations’ ability to contract with the state. If anti-discrimination policies are in place then Jindal cannot give taxpayer money to religious groups who practice such discrimination in their state funded activities.
“We’re not going to renew it. That shouldn’t come as a surprise,” he said when questioned about the order’s expiration. “We oppose discrimination. I think we’ve got strong federal and state laws that protect our people.” [emphasis mine]
Jindal is believed to be on John McCain’s short list of potential running mates.
June 24th, 2008
California’s “Save Our Kids” Campaign have announced that they have given up on their efforts to overturn California’s Senate Bill 777. Signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last October, SB-777 provides an array of anti-discrimination and anti-bullying protections in California’s schools.
An earlier attempt by opponents to force a referendum fell short, which led them to start a petition drive to put an initiative on the ballot. Now that this effort has failed, the Save Our Kids Campaign has announced that they will instead concentrate on passing a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
This follows similar failures in attempt to roll back anti-discrimination measures in Maine and Oregon.
June 19th, 2008
Well knock me down with a feather. Some good news out of the Baltic States.
Pink News is reporting
Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation has been included in a new Law on Equal Treatment passed by the Lithuanian parliament.
The new bill “requires equal treatment in the provision of goods and services” and joins a 2004 law banning employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.
June 4th, 2008
Many people have argued that the state of Transgender advocacy is at about where LGB (without the T) advocacy was ten or twenty years ago. Which makes this development especially important. On June 3, the state assembly voted overwhelmingly (102-33!) to to amend the state’s human rights law to include anti-discrimination protections for gender identity and expression.
The bill’s prospects in the Senate are uncertain, where Republicans hold a slim majority. Gov. Paterson has indicated that he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
June 2nd, 2008
The Denver Post reports
Gov. Bill Ritter today quietly signed a controversial bill expanding the prohibition of sexual-orientation-based discrimination, over the vocal opposition of conservative Christian groups like Focus on the Family.
The bill bans discrimination based on a person’s religious belief or sexual orientation – including transgender people – in places of public accommodation, housing practices, family planning services and 20 other public spheres. Such prohibitions are already in place with regard to race.
Ah, poor Dr. Dobson. He’s just not as influential as he once was. I guess if you are willing to sell out your integrity for some skirmish in a culture war you lose the reputation necessary to influence public policy.
Opponents said the bill would have serious consequences, such as opening up Colorado public restrooms and locker rooms to all genders and transgender people, exposing children and women to sexual predators.
I guess Coloradans saw that none of these things happened in any of the other states to ban discrimination and figured Dr. Dobson was just lying again.
April 18th, 2008
Today the Colorado Senate expanded anti-gay discrimination protections.
The measure (Senate Bill 200) takes the state’s current anti-discrimination laws and adds sexual orientation to the list of things, such as race or national origin, that can’t be considered. It would be illegal to deny gays and lesbians everything from apartment rentals and a seat in a restaurant to burial plots.
This is a preliminary vote and a second vote is required before it goes to the House.
Opponents argued that they saw no evidence of discrimination against gay people. Un-huh. Guess you ain’t been lookin’.
April 9th, 2008
In March of this year, Sen. Ted Deutch (D – Boca Raton) proposed a bill that would amend the the Florida Civil Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act to include sexual orientation. Although the bill had 37 co-signers, it lacked Republican support and was not considered to be viable.
That has changed. According to Edge Magazine, the bill has passed the Senate Commerce Committee.
Republican state lawmaker Jeff Atwater, who is the President-designate of the Senate, joined the ranks of lawmakers pressing for the expanded law and has been credited with helping the measure clear a Senate committee on Apr. 8, with a vote of 7-1. Four Republicans and three Democrats gave their vote to the measure
A sister bill has been presented in the House, but according to the Orlando Sentinel, that body may be more difficult.
The group conceded, though, that the concept faced a harder sell in the House, where it hasn’t been heard, and that “in reality, we are looking toward 2009” to get it passed into law.
Our thanks go to Sen. Deutch and the 37 Democratic lawmakers that presented the bill. Our thanks go to Sen. Atwater for rallying Republican support. And our best wishes continue with this bill and its House version and hope that soon discrimination against gay Floridians will be a matter of history.
ADDENDUM: Out in Orlando also has a good article on the vote.
Featured Reports
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In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
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Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
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The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
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