2004 Michiana study finds allegations of gay discrimination

Opposition group disputes study counts as evidence.

JAMIE LOO, Tribune Staff Writer
7/03/06

SOUTH BEND -- South Bend Equality, which was created to fight for amendments to the Human Rights Ordinance protecting sexual orientation and gender identity, conducted a study on gay discrimination in 2004.

The study included interviews with local gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents who say they have faced discrimination in Michiana.

Catherine Pittman, an associate professor at Saint Mary's College and a member of SBE, and SBE member and former human rights commission member Gail McGuire, conducted the study, which received approval from an institutional review board.

SBE presented the study to the Common Council and has repeatedly cited it as evidence of discrimination against gays in the city.

No Special Rights, which is against the proposed amendments, has criticized the study. No Special Rights member Joseph Sergio said case studies are the weakest methodology for researchers. At a hearing in May, he called the study "seriously flawed and biased" and said it should have been conducted by an independent researcher to have merit.

Sergio also argued that none of the cases were investigated and that the study was just made of stories of alleged discrimination.

Pittman said NSR also used personal stories in their evidence that can be considered case studies. SBE never implied the cases presented were investigated, she said. Because no protection exists in the current law, those cases couldn't be investigated by the Human Rights Commission.

"What we were doing was simply providing evidence that complaints of discrimination existed and we were documenting that. We were presenting allegations, not completed investigations," Pittman said.