Berea, KY Fairness Ordinance On Hold

A recently conducted survey commissioned by the Fairness Coalition determined that 83% of registered Kentucky voters agree that gay and transgender people should be protected from discrimination in the workplace, in housing, and in restaurants or other forms of public accommodations. 

The work continues on getting a statewide Fairness law ensconsed that would amend Kentucky’s Civil Rights Act to include protections based on perceived sexual orientation and gender identity.    The Statewide Fairness bill this session was sponsored by my old state rep Mary Lou Marzian (D-Louisville) with a companion Senate bill sponsored by Senator Kathy Stein (D-Lexington) in the GOP controlled chamber.   For the first time ever the bill actually got out of committee and to the floor of the Democratic controlled Kentucky House for debate..

The work also continues as various cities in the commonwealth of Kentucky try to join Louisville, Lexington and Covington on the list of Kentucky municipalities that have Fairness non-discrimination laws on their books and Berea is one of those municipalities making moves toward doing so.

Yesterday there was a Berea city council meeting to try to advance the process and Berea City Councilman Truman Fields, who is spearheading the efforts there was absent from last evening's regular scheduled meeting of the Council.

No further action was taken on either the establishment of a Berea Human Rights Commission or an anti-discrimination Fairness ordinance for the city. For the past several months Councilman Fields has spearheaded the Berea City Council task force tackling these issues, and brought forth a bill at the July 19 meeting that would establish a local Human Rights Commission. While the proposed Human Rights Commission does not include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes, the bill includes provisions for the enforcement of additional protected classes as adopted by the Berea City Council. At the July 19 meeting, the Human Rights Commission bill received the first of two readings required for a vote.

Councilman Fields announced at that July meeting that a draft Berean Fairness ordinance prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations based on perceived sexual orientation and gender identity would be presented at the second Council meeting this month, August 16.

"Though no action was taken tonight, we remain confident the Berea City Council will move forward with the establishment of a Human Rights Commission and propose a local Fairness ordinance as announced later this month," said Jason Howard of Bereans for Fairness. "We commend the City Council and its task force for their careful consideration in the drafting of these bills and their facilitation of a full public dialogue on the issues. We look forward to further positive movement towards Fairness in Berea."


I hope there will be better news to report from the Bluegrass state on August 16.

Mass AG Martha Coakley's Letter Supporting Trans Rights Bill

She may have famously flamed out in her campaign to keep the late Teddy Kennedy's US Senate seat in Democratic hands, but Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that she is a supporter of trans rights.

According to a Hannah Clay Wareham article in Bay Windows, AG Coakley authored a July 20 letter to Massachusetts Legislature House Chairman Rep. Eugene O’Flaherty (D-Chelsea) and Senate Judiciary Chairwoman Sen. Cynthia Creem (D-Newton), seeking a favorable recommendation from the Judiciary Committee for H. 502/5. 764, "An Act Relative to Transgender Equal Rights," AKA the  "Transgender Equal Rights Bill." 

It's a bill the Massachusetts trans community has long sought after being cut ages ago out of the one the GL community passed for itself in the state.  The proposed legislation would add gender identity and expression to existing Massachusetts civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, sex, and marital status in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations, education, and credit.

On June 8 the Transgender Equal Rights Bill had a hearing before the Judiciary Committee.  Governor Deval Patrick (D) is on record as saying he would sign the bill if it it is passed by the legislature and hit his desk.

Here's Attorney General Coakley's letter in favor of the bill.

The legislation currently before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary addresses the inequalities, mistreatment and abuse that transgender individuals regularly face by making it clear that they are protected against discrimination and violence under state law. This legislation will add gender identity or expression to our existing antidiscrimination laws concerning employment, housing, public accommodations, education, lending and credit. In practice, this change will prohibit landlords, employers, educational institutions, businesses, banks and places of public accommodation from discriminating against persons based on their gender identity or expression. And it will prohibit transgender individuals from being singled out and denied the same, basic rights and privileges that non-transgender people have long enjoyed and take for granted. Finally, this legislation will add gender identity or expression to our existing hate crime laws so that those who criminally victimize transgender individuals because of who they are will be properly charged and punished.

Over the past several years, opponents of this legislation have attempted to stoke fears about the public safety implications of this bill. Just last week, opponents began running radio ads that mischaracterize the bill to foster fear and bigotry, specifically by terming it the "bathroom bill" and threatening that its passage will permit men to dress as women for the purpose of entering restrooms to engage in unlawful conduct and claim protection under this law. Given the incorrect and unfortunate misconceptions generated by such statements, I wish to address this issue directly.

First, this bill does nothing to change existing laws in place to prosecute and punish individuals who engage in criminal conduct. As a prosecutor for more than 25 years, I can emphatically state that this bill only increases our ability to prosecute criminal conduct and protect the civil rights of all, and does nothing to restrict our ability to protect victims of any crimes. All people should be able to use restrooms and locker rooms in safety and with privacy, and that would remain the case under this new law. Allowing transgender people to use facilities that comport with their gender identity and how they live their lives is the safest and most workable approach and one that reduces further stigmatization. It is also the policy of the federal government as set forth by the Office of Personal Management which now requires federal employers to allow their employees to use the restroom or locker room consistent with their gender identity.

         

Second, inherent in this harmful commentary is the implication that transgender individuals are sex offenders or sexually deviant persons. Not only is this characterization inaccurate, it is deeply offensive and insulting. I note for the Committee that our office is unaware of a single instance where an individual has attempted to use this type of gender identity or expression protection as a defense to claims of criminal conduct or violation of privacy in any of the jurisdictions that have passed similar laws. Contrary to some of the commentary, it does not extend any new protections to sex offenders.


In short, I believe this legislation is the next step in our forward path of extending equal protections to all citizens and eradicating discrimination in our Commonwealth. I strongly urge you to give 11.502/S.764 a favorable recommendation.

 Thanks AG Coakley.  Now lets see if the peeps at Beacon Hill follow through on your recommendation.


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Are Transpeople Less Than Human?

I have a question for all you haters out there inside and outside the trans community.   I've borrowed the language from a comment Rev. Al Sharpton said in his 2004 presidential run and substituted trans for 'gay and lesbian' to make it apropos for what I want to ask you.

Are we prepared to say transpeople are less than human? If we're not prepared to say that, then how do we say that they should not have the same rights and human choices of anyone else?'
 
I'll repeat it for you in case there was some cognitive malfunction in terms of comprehending the question.

Are you radical lesbian and cis feminists, gay and lesbian peeps, fundie Christians, fundie Muslims, male and female identified cis people of all ethnicities, conservatives, (Your group here) prepared to say that transpeople are less than human?    If you're not prepared to say that, then how do you  say that they should not have the same rights and human choices of anyone else?'

From where we sit and have observed, y'all certainly think and act like were less than human.

If your answer is no, then why are you denigrating and disrespecting us?   Why do you arrogantly presume you have the right to visit violence upon us or terminate our lives?  Why are you saying we can't marry the people that we love or doing everything in your power to invalidate our relationships?   Why are you actively working to block or kill the legislation we desperately need to enjoy the same human rights as you do?  

Why are you in many cases saying that we shouldn't have the same human rights and choices as anyone else breathing oxygen on this planet?  

News flash:  We aren't less than human.  We are part of the diverse mosaic of human life and you need to start wrapping your mind around the fact that like you we exist and aren't going anywhere.  

And if you answered yes to that question, you are the one who is less than human.