Laserfiche WebLink
« community forums; <br /> ■ the interview-based survey of local GLBT individuals prepared by South <br /> Bend Equality(a study approved by the Institutional Review Board at Saint <br /> Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN,presented to the Personnel and Finance <br /> Committee in 2005); <br /> ■ national,regional and local studies; <br /> ■ news reports, <br /> ■ case law; <br /> ■ the Indiana Civil Rights Rate Crimes Reporting Network; <br /> ■ the"South Bend Equality Documentation in Support of Bill 29-46"(presented <br /> to the Personnel and Finance Committee in 2006); and, <br /> ■ public comments. <br /> Victims of such discrimination have nowhere to turn and no recourse under current law, <br /> as neither federal, state nor city law currently prohibits such discrimination. This <br /> amendment would give the South Bend Human Rights Commission the duty and <br /> opportunity to investigate alleged complaints objectively. <br /> Many Indiana jurisdictions do prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation <br /> and/or gender identity, including the cities of Indianapolis (2005), Lafayette (1993), West <br /> Lafayette(1993), Bloomington(1993, 2006), Fort Wayne(2001), Terre Haute, and <br /> Michigan City(2002), as well as Tippicanoe County and Marion County(2005). In <br /> addition, in 2001, Governor O'Bannon issued an Executive Order prohibiting <br /> discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in state agencies. Governor Kernan <br /> extended that protection to transgender people in 2004. Governor Daniels' state <br /> employment policy likewise protects state employees from discrimination based on both <br /> sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2009, South Bend's Mayor Luecke issued an <br /> Executive Order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender <br /> identity in city employment. These leaders in these cities and in this State recognize that <br /> discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity is a problem in Indiana <br /> and they have taken measures to correct it. <br /> The federal government recognizes that there is a problem with discrimination. In 1998 <br /> President William Jefferson Clinton enacted Executive Order 13087 to prohibit federal <br /> employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The U.S Senate <br /> Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions filed a report in 2002 to <br /> accompany Senate Bill 1284 which stated: "The problem of sexual orientation <br /> discrimination in the workplace is wide-spread and well-documented." That same <br /> committee reported favorably on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2001. In <br /> 2005, the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform stated"that Congressional intent <br /> as well as current policy and practice prohibit Federal employment discrimination on the <br /> basis of`sexual orientation"'. At the present time, the United States Congress is <br /> currently reviewing the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"military policy. <br /> 14 <br />