Council to revisit ordinance on rights

Pfeifer brings defeated GLBT amendment back.

MARTI GOODLAD HELINE
Tribune Staff Writer
11/22/07

SOUTH BEND -- Charlotte Pfeifer hopes her last accomplishment as a South Bend Common Council member will be one that honors her colleague, Roland Kelly, who died in May.

Pfeifer, D-2nd, is asking the council to reconsider a controversial amendment to the human rights ordinance that would prohibit discrimination by sexual orientation and gender identity.

It is the same measure, sponsored by Kelly, D-3rd, and Pfeifer, that was defeated by the council 5-4 in July 2006 after much debate.
"We came so close to passing it and doing the moral and decent thing," said Pfeifer, whose term expires at year's end. "I thought I'd give the council a chance to right the wrong they did last year."

She noted it was Kelly's "number one regret" when the amendment did not pass.

"It profoundly and deeply hurt Roland at the time," recalled Pfeifer, who added the late councilman did not believe in discriminating against anyone.

"If we really want to pay tribute to (Kelly) and respect him the way we say we do, we do not want the city to discriminate against anyone," Pfeifer added.

"It clearly was very important to him," Randy Kelly said of his father. "It was the one thing he mentioned in his retirement interview (with The Tribune) that he wanted to accomplish before the end of his term."

Roland Kelly died in May and his son is completing his term, which ends Dec. 31.

"I hear from everyone, everywhere how much appreciated he was, always standing up for the rights of everyone," added Randy Kelly.

"I am very much in favor of it," he said of the amendment.

First reading on Pfeifer's measure is set for Monday's council meeting, and she's asked for a public hearing Dec. 10.

"It's going to keep coming back up until it's resolved," said Catherine Pittman, a member of South Bend Equality, a diverse citizens group that believes people should not be discriminated against on the basis of sexual preference or gender identity.

"There is a group of citizens in the community not protected from discrimination and a lot of individuals are concerned about it," Pittman said.

Patrick Mangan, executive director of Citizens for Community Values, said his group will strongly oppose the amendment again.

"We're still exactly in the same place," he said. "We are lovingly opposing the homosexuals as it is put forward by the ordinance.

"We believe anyone who really loves homosexuals will oppose their behavior," Mangan added, "and help them come out of homosexuality. The truth is it's a dangerous, addictive, deadly lifestyle."

Mangan expects stronger opposition to the proposal than in 2006, just because so many issues "are slippery slopes."

Many people, according to Pittman, believe it is wrong to discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender individuals because those issues are unrelated to their job or economic issues.

"Most think it's already illegal" to discriminate, she added.

Pfeifer is bringing the issue back up on the grounds there is new information to give the council.

The proposed amendment is the same as one passed in Indianapolis in 2005, Pfeifer said, and the same as the one the South Bend council defeated in 2006.

"I believe the opposition (last time) put an inappropriate spin on it," Pfeifer said. "This is nothing special, just basic human rights."

Pfeifer and Pittman each said the amendment really is about one simple issue: having the right to report discrimination to the Human Rights Commission and to have it investigated to see if the complaint has merit.

In Indianapolis, after two years with the ordinance, Pittman said there have been no lawsuits challenging it and no more than five reports of discrimination per year. Most were resolved with mediation.

"It's part of my responsibility as a human being to see everyone is treated with dignity and respect," Pfeifer said.

Mangan says, "There is no legitimate or legal basis for such an ordinance and there is no need for it."

From research, Mangan said he found, "There is no evidence of a trend of acts of discrimination here against the GLBT community."

He maintains most violence against homosexuals is from their partners, not from the general public.

Citing homosexuality as a behavior-based identity, Mangan does not see that in the same light for defining discrimination as a racial identity someone is born with.

Mangan sees problems over sexual preferences and gender identity not as discrimination, but of differing opinions.

"There is no constitutional right not to be disagreed with," Mangan said. "We need to have a better solution to manage unkindness."

Pittman said the proposed amendment is important to make a "community commitment to take care of people fairly."

"I just thought in the spirit of the holidays and good will toward men, I'd give the council a chance to step into the 21st century," Pfeifer said.

"If it passes, what a merry Christmas it would be. It is truly a Christ-like thing to do."