This Op-Ed was originally published in the February 15th edition of the Courier-Journal.
In January of 1966, with Governor Edward T. Breathitt’s signing of a law Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called “the strongest and most comprehensive civil rights bill passed by a Southern state,” the Commonwealth of Kentucky became the first state in the South to adopt a Civil Rights Act with enforceable repercussions for acts of discrimination. Two years later, Kentucky was again first in the South, this time in the passage of a statewide fair housing law, which cemented our commonwealth’s legacy as the nation’s Southern civil rights leader.
At its core, the purpose of the Civil Rights Act is to ensure equality for everyone. It ensures all Kentuckians have the same opportunities to earn a living, be safe in their communities, serve their country, and care for the ones they love. When there has been a history of a particular groups’ lack of access to these fundamentals of the American dream, the just and appropriate response has been to add that particular group to existing antidiscrimination laws.
Today our state has the opportunity to once again stand as the pioneer of fairness and equality among its Southern peers, and we challenge each and every Kentuckian to add their voice to the call for comprehensive civil rights legislation in the commonwealth.
On January 5, Louisville Representative Mary Lou Marzian and three other Kentucky legislators (Reps. Flood, Jenkins and Palumbo) filed House Bill 117—a statewide Fairness law—that seeks to amend our state’s Civil Rights Act to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected classifications, prohibiting discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Kentuckians in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Even today, any person suspected of being gay or transgender outside Lexington, Louisville, or Covington may be legally fired from their job, denied housing, or withheld access to any public accommodation—such as a bus ride or service in a restaurant.
The Tides Foundation’s
State Equality Fund, a philanthropic partnership that includes the Evelyn and
Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, the Gill Foundation, and anonymous donors, has awarded
the Kentucky Statewide Fairness Coalition $30,000 to promote lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality. The Fund is programmatically staffed
on behalf of the donors by the Gill Foundation’s Movement Building Center.
The
Fairness Coalition is an alliance of the various organizations and individuals
working for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights in Kentucky.Our primary goal is to win a statewide
ordinance that extends protections based on sexual orientation and gender
identity within the Kentucky Civil Rights statute.We recognize that to accomplish this long-term goal we will
need to build a statewide base of support with incremental victories on the
local level.By joining forces, we
enhance the capacity of the individual organizations with a sharing of
resources, strategies, and goals, increased communication, and a strengthened
and expanded base of allies of LGBT equality.
Founding members of the
Fairness Coalition include the ACLU of Kentucky, Fairness Campaign, Kentucky
Commission on Human Rights, Kentucky Fairness Alliance, and Lexington Fairness.
Statewide work on LGBT rights continues to expand with the Fairness Coalition of allied organizations. The Coalition is a result of a summit convened in the Fall of 2008, to bring together organizations committed to working for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights in Kentucky. The primary goal is comprehensive civil rights protections prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The summit assembled 50 delegates from 11 organizations throughout the state with broad representation across lines of gender, race, class, sexuality, age, and geography. Participants worked with an outside consultant to analyze the political landscape of the state, set goals for the coalition, and develop a shared mission and plan.
We realize that to accomplish our long-term goals and to increase the capacity of the individual organizations we must improve communication, share resources, and work together to strengthen and expand the base of support for LGBT equality.
Nine months after an employee at a McDonald’s restaurant in downtown Louisville called a group of gay customers a series of anti-gay slurs, the American Civil Liberties Union announced today that McDonald’s has agreed to a cash settlement and diversity training for management at 30 of its Louisville-area restaurants.
Ryan Marlatt, Teddy Eggers, and three other friends had stopped for lunch at a McDonald’s restaurant on East Market Street on July 26, 2008 while visiting Louisville for the weekend. While they waited for their food to be prepared, an employee behind the counter referred to them as “faggots” to another employee. When Marlatt and Eggers objected to the slur and asked to speak with a manager, the employee who had called them “faggots” started arguing with them, repeatedly calling them “faggots” in front of other customers and calling one of them a “cocksucker” and “bitch.”
“The reason we made such a big deal out of this to begin with was because we didn’t want it happening to anyone else, so I’m very glad McDonald’s management is going to be having these trainings,” said Eggers of Indianapolis, Indiana. “We were hurt and upset, but at least we’re adults and can handle being called names. We hated thinking that this kind of harassment might also happen to someone young and vulnerable who would really take it to heart.”
The supervisor on duty refused to refund the group’s purchase, so Marlatt attempted several times in the following weeks to contact both the general manager of the McDonald’s and the corporate offices, with no results. Louisville law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, so the ACLU filed a complaint in September on behalf of Marlatt and Eggers with the Louisville Human Relations Commission. In October, representatives of a variety of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender groups as well as other civil rights organizations protested at the downtown Louisville McDonald’s where the incident took place.
“We’re really grateful to the Louisville Metro Human Relations Commission for its investigation, as well as to our friends at the Fairness Campaign, and commonGround at the University of Louisville, for keeping the pressure on McDonald’s to do the right thing,” said Michael Aldridge, Executive Director of the ACLU of Kentucky. “While we’re fortunate to have a law banning sexual orientation discrimination in Louisville, this goes to show that it’s still important to speak out and do something about it when your rights are violated.”
View a video of Marlatt and Eggers telling the story of what happened to them as well as their complaint to the Human Relations Commission at Marlatt & Eggers video
By Roger Alford
Associated Press
FRANKFORT — The Kentucky Supreme Court will decide whether a Baptist university can use $11 million awarded by state lawmakers three years ago to open a pharmacy school.
Lawyers are working under a June deadline to file written arguments. Justices could decide the case by the end of the year.
The case, which involves the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, is being watched closely by advocates for other church-affiliated schools that have largely been excluded in the past from state funding for construction projects.
A trial judge ruled last year that the appropriation to the Baptist university violates the state constitution. The university's attorneys appealed directly to the Supreme Court, skipping the Court of Appeals, in hopes of expediting a decision.
