Mayor backs changes to human rights proposal

More hearings on amendment to ordinance slated prior to final vote.

JAMIE LOO, Tribune Staff Writer
May 9, 06

SOUTH BEND -- Mayor Stephen Luecke spoke in support of amending the human rights ordinance to include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons during the amendment's first public hearing on Monday afternoon.

The Common Council decided to move a public hearing and the final vote on the proposal from May 22 to June 26 to allow time for more public input and because of scheduling conflicts among council members.

"I believe it is appropriate for our community to make a stand that says we oppose discrimination against individuals of this category," Luecke said.

There is ample evidence locally and nationally of discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people to warrant protective language in the law, Luecke said.

Other cities such as Indianapolis have passed similar ordinances with either voluntary or mandatory compliance. There is some debate over whether local governments can create protected classes, and Luecke said he would support mandatory compliance in the city. Luecke said he is open to hearing more discussion on the issue from the city legal department and council members."I believe it's not only appropriate but important for the city of South Bend to make a statement for fair housing, fair employment for individuals of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender orientation," he said.

Catherine Pittman, a member of South Bend Equality, gave a presentation at the beginning of the hearing. During the opposition portion of the hearing No Special Rights member Patrick Mangan asked Personnel and Finance Committee Chair Charlotte Pfeifer, D-2nd, if his organization would be allowed to make a similar presentation during Wednesday's hearing.

Mangan expressed concerns last week that those who are against the proposal were not being given an equal voice in the hearing process. Following the meeting, No Special Rights member Tom Uebbing said Pfeifer is allowing the group 45 minutes to give a presentation at the Wednesday afternoon hearing.

Human Rights Commission members Bill Eagan and Penny Hughes said they were speaking at the hearing as private citizens and not as commission members. Hughes said as a real estate agent and landlord she has come across many clients who had previously experienced housing discrimination.

"You'd be surprised at the thank-you notes I've gotten after selling them (GLBT clients) a house that say, 'Thank you for treating me like a normal human being.' Because they hadn't gotten that experience before," Hughes said.It took decades of small grass-roots movements in cases such as suffrage, abolition and civil rights for real change to take place, Eagan said. Passing the ordinance won't be the end of the issue, he said, and as history has shown, sometimes laws are challenged and taken to court. Eagan, who is in favor of the amendment, said the ordinance should pass and let history take its course.

"Please vote for principle and not be unduly influenced by expediency or hate mail," he said.

The commission issued a statement in January 2005 asking the Common Council to come up with a remedy. Per Eagan's request, the commission recently discussed issuing a stronger statement in support of the amendment, according to the unofficial minutes of the Human Rights Commission meeting April 19. The commission decided to wait to hear from the Common Council before taking any action.

During the evening council meeting, several residents spoke in favor of the proposal during privilege of the floor. No one spoke in opposition.

April Lidinsky, a member of the American Association of University Women, said her organization is in favor of the amendment. The AAUW has been working on GLBT rights in communities across the U.S., she said."We cannot eliminate sexism without eliminating homophobia," Lidinsky said.