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REGULAR MEETING JULY, 10, 2006
<br />well being within lesbian and gay populations those who more frequently feel stigmatized
<br />or discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or who feel compelled to
<br />conceal their homosexuality tend to report more frequent stress and other mental health
<br />concerns. Children of same sex couples are also vulnerable to prejudice and
<br />discrimination, directed against their parents. The children then experience stress as a
<br />direct result.” It also states that psychological research provides no evidence to justify
<br />this discrimination. Other reputable groups such as the American Psychiatric
<br />Association, The American Medical Association, The American Nurses Association and
<br />the American Academy of Pediatrics share the same view. What the evidence does show
<br />is that discrimination causes harm to GLBT individuals and families. He stated that they
<br />face a great challenge in asking people to come forward, not being protected to tell about
<br />their personal situations. Data has been presented in 2005 that twenty (20) individuals in
<br />South Bend, had concerns that they would have like to have taken to the Human Rights
<br />Commission. This is a significant number, but don’t depend on the study alone, many
<br />individuals have stood at this podium, written letters, and sent e-mails and even spoke to
<br />the newspaper about their experience ofdiscrimination. The Human Rights Commission
<br />has acknowledged this discrimination against GLBT individuals exists here and has
<br />asked for the Council to provide a remedy. Can the Council honestly say that they don’t
<br />believe that there is discrimination against GLBT individuals is occurring in South Bend?
<br />Still some voices are forced to remain silent. Tonight, the Council can change this.
<br />Provide a remedy, a place to go, where someone will listen to and investigate the stories.
<br />The Human Rights Commission is already set up to do this. They have already asked the
<br />Council to provide such a remedy. All that is needed if for the Council to be courageous
<br />enough to take a stand for what is right, just and fair. Protection for all who live, work or
<br />conduct business in South Bend. He urged the Council to vote in favor of the amendment
<br />of the South Bend Human Rights Ordinance to include sexuality orientation and gender
<br />identity.
<br />Gail McGuire, 1629 Belmont, South Bend, Indiana, stated that she is a married, mother
<br />of two and a Professor of Sociology of Indiana University, South Bend. Her area of
<br />specialization is inequality in the workplace. She is representing South Bend Equality.
<br />She is speaking on the economic justification for amending the Human Rights Ordinance
<br />to include sexual orientation and gender identity. She stated that she had two basic
<br />points, first, there is business support for this kind of legislation and second, amending
<br />the Human Rights Ordinance makes good business sense for South Bend. In regard to
<br />the first point, over 92% of Fortune 500 Businesses that have policies that prohibit
<br />discrimination against gays and lesbians, this includes Wal-Mart the largest of the
<br />Fortune 500 companies as well as all five of the Fortune 500 companies headquartered in
<br />Indiana. Forty major Indiana employers also have non-discrimination policies that
<br />include sexual orientation including Westpoint, Conseco, Eli Lilly & Co., National
<br />Collegiate Athletic Asociation, Allied Van Lines, and American United Life Insurance.
<br />Additionally, a number of companies have gender identity expression in their non-
<br />discrimination policy, such as IBM, American Airlines, Walgreens, Lucent Technologies,
<br />Xerox and Verizonwireless. South Bend Equality has also presented the Common
<br />Council with letters from local businesses that support Bill No. 29-06. In regards to the
<br />second point, research shows that the level of diversity and inclusiveness in a City is as
<br />positively related to its economic vitality. She quoted statements from CEO’s who
<br />believe that prohibiting discrimination against GLBT is a sound economic strategy.
<br />Daniel Carp, Chairman & CEO, Eastman Kodak “in our competitive marketplace diverse
<br />markets offer opportunity for growth, we need the ideas and insights of diverse and an
<br />inclusive workforce to attract and better serve customers.” Ted Childs, Vice-President of
<br />Global Workforce Diversity at IBM explained “the contributions that are made by the
<br />IBM members of the GLBT accrue directly to our bottom line, our goal is to assembly
<br />the most talented workforce in the industry and to use the skills of that diverse team to
<br />respond to the needs of our customers.” Clearly companies of this caliber are looking to
<br />do business in communities that also value to contributions of a diverse workforce.
<br />st
<br />Passing Bill 29-06 is one way that South Bend can show that it is the 21 century city that
<br />it aspires to be and that it understands and appreciates the value of diversity. On behalf
<br />of South Bend Equality, she urged the Council to vote favorably for Bill 29-06, it would
<br />be good for business, good for employees, and good for the economic growth of the city.
<br />She stated that she is one of the statistics that are often read about, she stated that she was
<br />discriminated against simply because of her sexual orientation, despite the fact that she is
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