There were a few protestors outside of Memorial Hall Tuesday morning but in the end, it was a civil-peaceful step for the Hutchinson City Council. They ended up in the middle when to came to a new anti-discrimination policy involving the local gay community.
The council voted 3-2 to add sexual orientation to that policy, but only as it applies to job termination and a housing eviction. It didn’t go as far as including public buildings and gathering places, something that had the church community locally and across the nation up in arms with many Conservative websites concerned that it could lead to churches being forced to have transgender parties in their facilities. The chances of that happening were slim, but even the chance was enough to cause concern.
One of the two descending votes was from Councilman Dean Brigman. He says there are three things needed to determine if this is needed. One is it being required under state or federal law,. Two is the question of whether we have a growing or unmanageable case load, and three is it believed that the passage would be beneficial to all the citizens of Hutchinson. He believes the answer to all three is “no.”
Councilman Ron Sellers made a motion to include all but those who are transgender from the policy, but Councilman Bob Bush amended that which was approved, which would protect gay and lesbian citizens from being fired or evicted solely on the sexual orientation. He says he believes everyone no matter who they are should have the right to earn a living, and gave a roof over their head.
He wanted the part about public accommodations left out of the ordinance. He told us after-wards that he had a problem with that from the very beginning. He cited the possibility of a gay couple wanting to have a birthday party in one of those facilities, they wouldn’t have just the ability to do that, but the right to do that. He says that could go against the wishes of a business owner or the facility. He says the could create a contentious environment. He says that making sure that churches are not included, public buildings are not included, avoiding that conflict was an easy one for him to decide.
Jon Powell with the Kansas Equality Coalition saw Tuesday’s decision as a win for their cause. He says he thought Councilman Bob Bush represented it very well. He says, they don’t want gay and lesbian citizen’s fired or evicted because of the sexual orientation. He says it is happening. He says the Human Relations Commission saw it was happening, “thank goodness.”
Councilman Bob Bush and Ron Sellers, as well as Councilwoman Cindy Proett approved the motion, while Councilman Dean Brigman and Mayor Ron Sellers opposed.