News: All Politics Is Local

Although the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth District has upheld the legality of Issue 3, which added Article 12 to Cincinnati’s city charter, the federal government still might offer protection to local gays and lesbians facing workplace discrimination.

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote by the end of the year on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would extend employment discrimination protection to include sexual orientation, a power not possessed by Cincinnati City Council. Under Article 12, council cannot enact any law forbidding discrimination based on sexual orientation.

If ENDA passes into law, it would override a significant portion of Article 12, making the local ordinance easier to remove, according to Bill Bridges, chairman of the Cincinnati Political Committee of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

“I think one of the interesting things about ENDA is its impact on Article 12,” Bridges says.

The amendment to the city charter has been a sticking point for Cincinnati’s gay and lesbian community. Since Issue 3 first passed in 1993, the civil rights group Stonewall Cincinnati has pushed for its repeal while working to push convention business to the city’s outskirts. On Feb. 11, Stonewall publicly joined the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati in calling for a boycott of the city until a series of demands, including the repeal of Article 12, have been met (see Boycotting the Closet issue of Feb. 28-March 6).

The city charter wording has divided not just the city but the gay and lesbian community as well.

“Article 12 has built barriers between groups of people,” Bridges says.

Through a series of town hall meetings to promote education and support for ENDA, Bridges hopes to knock down those barriers.

“To help get this community organized, we need to get everyone together at the same table,” he says.

The third in the series of ENDA town hall meetings takes place Saturday at St. John’s Unitarian Church in Clifton. Kyler Broadus, HRC’s Capitol Hill legislative counsel, will be on hand to answer questions. The point, Bridges emphasizes, is to educate all sides about the issue, and education goes both ways.

“If you don’t agree with it, we need to know why, because maybe we’re missing the point,” Bridges says.

Instead of creating an intense debate atmosphere, Bridges prefers a conversational approach. Everyone has the right to be heard, and everyone has the chance to learn.

“This is about building a better Cincinnati,” he says.

That will only happen after the gay and lesbian community receives equal rights under the law. Homophobia, according to Bridges, is a “pervasive problem” in Cincinnati.

Bridges has seen it firsthand. He’s been fired twice in the six years since he moved to Cincinnati from Washington, D.C. The first time happened after his commitment ceremony to his life partner.

After taking a traditional honeymoon, Bridges learned that he’d been fired for his lifestyle. Having reached a settlement out of court with his former employer, he won’t mention the company by name.

A lawsuit is pending in the second dismissal.

“The last time I checked, we still live in America and we should not be subjected to this kind of abuse,” Bridges says.

ENDA would prevent employers from using a person’s sexual orientation as a basis for employment decisions and from practicing different standards and treatment for gays and lesbians.

“Homophobia is the last accepted formal means of discrimination allowed in this country,” Bridges says.

John Oxner, a member of HRC, hasn’t been fired for being gay, but he, like Bridges, has faced workplace discrimination.

“I was once told I would not be promoted into a managerial position,” Oxner says.

Unable to move up the corporate ladder, Oxner quit. Not wanting to face a similar situation, he tweaked his résumé so potential employers would know his sexuality up front.

“I spell out ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian,’ ” he says. “I don’t use the acronyms. I don’t want to waste my time working for somebody who’s not going to respect me.”

Oxner found that respect in his current work position but was surprised to learn that his employer wasn’t educated on the status of Article 12.

“He didn’t realize Article 12 was still on the books,” Oxner says.

For Bridges, it’s another example of the need to educate. But special focus needs to be paid to the gay community itself.

“They’re the most uneducated people about gay rights in this city,” he says, adding that many gays and lesbians haven’t felt the impact of Article 12 personally.

“If you’re only thinking about yourself, you’re probably right,” he says. “If you stop to think about the gay community as a whole, it does affect a lot of people.”

And Oxner believes that those directly affected have remained silent.

“The majority of people who have suffered this kind of discrimination are not going to come forward,” he says.

But it’s hard to speak out when there’s no protection, which is why Bridges says he’s actively working toward equal protection under the law for gays and lesbians.

ENDA currently has a majority of support in the Senate and is eight votes short of a majority in the House of Represent-atives, according to Bridges. But votes can change easily one way or the other. A table will be set up at the town hall meetings to help those interested in contacting their congressmen to pledge support for EDNA.

“We’re willing to take 90 percent of the people with us and work for the other 10 percent,” Bridges says.

This article appears in Apr 17-23, 2002.