Tacoma makes GLBT rights the law

COUNCIL: Despite 8-1 vote, repeal effort is expected

Tacoma News Tribune
Paula Lavigne Sullivan

TACOMA, WA April 24, 2002 - The Tacoma City Council voted 8-1
to ban discrimination against gays, lesbians and other sexual minorities
Tuesday night.

Despite the strong vote for the measure, some supporters expect an
effort soon to repeal it.

The council action added "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to
the city's anti-discrimination law, which already covers race,
ethnicity, age, gender and other protected classes.

"This leads us to look at all people as people," said Councilwoman Bil
Moss.

The expected "no" vote came from Councilman Michael Lonergan, who said
he was responding to the wishes of Tacoma voters who turned down two
previous local proposals and one statewide initiative to protect
homosexuals against discrimination.

When the council approved a similar measure in 1989, voters repealed it
later that year.

Lonergan said several people told him any new ordinance should meet the
same fate. Even some gay and lesbian supporters of the measure said
Monday they expect a repeal effort against this latest law.

Tuesday's council vote brought dozens of people in the audience to their
feet in applause. Afterward, some mingled in the lobby near the council
chambers with tears in their eyes as they congratulated friends and
supporters, while others made a beeline to television cameras outside.

Tacoma's new law is similar to anti-discrimination laws in Seattle and
Spokane, where discrimination based on sexual orientation is banned in
both public and private-sector housing and employment.

Most other cities that mention sexual orientation include it only in
anti-discrimination policies for city hiring or public services. Neither
federal nor state laws protect sexual minorities from discrimination in
employment, housing or other services, which is why supporters leaned on
the City Council to give them such rights.

Some opponents to the law, citing moral or religious reasons, said
sexual orientation and gender identity do not belong among other
protected classes such as race, religion, age, family status or disability.

The opposition also included small-business owners who said expanding
the anti-discrimination law would only put them further at risk for
costly lawsuits.

Concerns about small businesses kept Councilman Kevin Phelps undecided
for several weeks on the issue. Phelps said he had wanted the ordinance
to exempt businesses with fewer than eight employees, which would make
it consistent with state law and less vulnerable to legal challenge.

Even though he didn't have enough support on the council for his
amendment, Phelps said he was voting for the ordinance because he
believed in its intent to prevent discrimination and "respect all people."

The council did approve an amendment by Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg to
make a technical wording change on the definitions of "sexual
orientation" and "gender identity."

She was concerned the original wording would have the unintended
consequence of actually sanctioning actions against homosexuals, rather
than preventing them. The ordinance also included specific wording to
exempt nonprofit religious institutions, including places of worship and
the organizations they operate.

The Tacoma Human Rights Commission, which proposed the ordinance, added
the exemption to recognize a 1999 court ruling that the city could not
pursue a discrimination complaint filed by two employees of St. Joseph
Hospital because the hospital is owned by a religious organization. And
state law already exempts religious institutions from such
anti-discrimination laws.

Many people who opposed adding protections for sexual minorities to
Tacoma's law used religious references and quotes from the Bible to
argue that homosexuality is a sin and should not be encouraged.

Councilman Doug Miller said adding sexual orientation and gender
identity to an anti-discrimination law was a "human rights" issue and a
matter of public policy, not a ruling on homosexuality.

"We're not here to sit in judgment," Miller said. "A power far greater
than the Tacoma City Council is in charge of that."

SIDEBAR: Gay Rights: A Closer look

Tacoma's law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and
gender identity in both public and private employment, in housing and in
school or college admissions.

According to the law, sexual orientation shall mean "actual or perceived
homosexuality, bisexuality, heterosexuality."

Gender identity shall mean "the status or perception of being
transsexual, intersexed (possessing aspects of both genders),
transvestite or transgendered."

Complaints of discrimination will begin with the Tacoma Human Rights
Commission investigating the incident and, if evidence of discrimination
exists, commissioners will try to solve the problem between the parties
to avoid litigation. If negotiations fail, either party can pursue the
case before a local hearings examiner.