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03-26-12 Common Council Meeting Minutes
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03-26-12 Common Council Meeting Minutes
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REGULAR MEETING MARCH 26, 2012 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />stereotypical images that are destructive and the majority of opinion of Brown vs. The <br />Board of Education, Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren read that the climate created by <br />discrimination resulted in harm that could never be undone. That young people living in <br />such a climate were forever damaged by it. The climate here in South Bend is <br />oppressive. Devon Smith, a straight women and a graduate of Harvard Divinity School <br />who received a doctorate from Notre Dame moved away because she did not feel that this <br />is a safe or welcoming community. She stated that she knows people who remained <br />closeted for fear of losing their jobs. Passage of this bill will address and give recourse to <br />someone who loses a job based on sexual orientation only. The office manager of her <br />church used to be the pre-trial diversion director at the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s <br />Office; she left that job after Mike Barnes left office and began working as a paralegal at <br />a South Bend law firm. After working there for a year and receiving a good yearly <br />evaluation and a raise, she was fired. Why, her boss overheard her speaking to her <br />partner on the phone during her lunch break, she was away from her desk. The next <br />morning he fired her telling her bluntly that he wasn’t going to work a lesbian. And still <br />we hear the question is there really discrimination here? There is, make no mistake about <br />it, the civil rights issue of our day. You disagree, John Becker wrote this week in an on- <br />line newspaper: James Byrd Jr. murdered because he was black as every bit as dead as <br />Matthew Shepherd who was killed because he was gay. She added Tyler Clementi who <br />jumped off a bridge and killed himself after being outed by his roommate. A friend who <br />teaches at the University of Illinois in Chicago, described to her a young student there, a <br />transsexual who jumped to his death from scaffolding only three weeks. Walking while <br />black or living while gay should not be a crime. All we are asking for is the right to take <br />a grievance to the Human Rights Commission for a fair hearing and for the Human <br />Rights Commission to act as mediators. A small thing, an important thing, a necessary <br />and right and good thing, and of course churches are exempt. <br /> <br />Regina Williams-Preston, 838 N. Elmer, South Bend, Indiana, stated that when it came to <br />her attention that our city had the opportunity to adopt a new non-discrimination policy <br />that includes protection from discrimination for sexual orientation, frankly she was <br />surprised to learn that this is not already included in our city’s definition of human rights. <br />She identifies at heterosexual, catholic, African-American woman, happily married for <br />five years. She is a middle school teacher and as such, she knows the importance of <br />affirming the experience of all students no matter their race, ethnicity, gender or sexual <br />orientation. Yes, middle school students are struggle with issues of sexual identity. As <br />evidenced in the rise of school bullying and recent high profile suicides of children being <br />targeted for being gay. In the school setting, we must protect all students’ right to <br />dignity. You may be surprised by the number of her students who have two moms or two <br />dads. Even though they do not identify themselves, they are directly affected and deeply <br />scared by discrimination against people based on sexual orientation. There are many <br />voices calling for the elimination of bullying in schools. She said that we can talk to <br />young people until we are blue in the face but as any teacher can tell you the transfer of <br />knowledge is best done through experience and modeling, it starts with the adults. We <br />have to stand up and say it is not okay to target people for humiliation or discrimination <br />based on their sexual orientation. We have to do this through our own actions. The way <br />we treat each other everyday, but most importantly, through the law. We may not all <br />agree that sexual orientation is a choice, but most everyone would agree that no matter <br />our sexual identity we are all human. And as human beings we all deserve equal and fair <br />treatment under the law. Any discrimination with regard to education, housing or <br />employment is wrong morally. We need to make all discrimination wrong legally. Over <br />the course of history, the social evolution of human interaction has shown that laws <br />change long before attitudes and actions. We write laws to guide our order and civility, <br />but a change in the law doesn’t bring about an immediate change of mind. Yes, we know <br />that change is a process. Start the process, vote to make a legal commitment to expand <br />the scope of our non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation. <br /> <br />Paul Phair, 116 E. Northshore, South Bend, Indiana, stated that tonight we have heard a <br />lot of eloquent, passionate, persuasive statements. He stated that as a young person in <br />South Bend and someone who is involved both professionally and charitably in a lot of <br />different organizations and a lot of events, just wanted to share a very brief opinion that <br />he holds on a larger context of what this ordinance means for our community. In order to <br /> 16 <br /> <br />
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