Prominent journalists from around Ohio are covering legislation that would add Ohio to the growing list of states that make it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Here’s what Ohio’s opinion leaders are saying about this legislation:

Lucas County Adopts New Nondiscrimination Policy
By James Fowler
Sojourner’s Truth Reporter

It’s a familiar scene that’s often taken for granted.

A couple walks out of a movie theater and immediately starts discussing the film they’ve just seen. As they make their way though the lobby, one of them runs into a co-worker and his wife. The couples exchange pleasantries and engage in some small talk before saying goodbye and going their separate ways.

For most people this is hardly a panic-inducing scenario. But for those who are gay or bisexual it can be. Looks of disapproval, averted eyes, and the fear that someone might learn your secret and use it against you are common anxieties among some who are LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender).

For them, progress on this front, one of the more recent battles in the fight for equal rights, has been slow. Ohio does not have a state law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and neither did Lucas County … until now. Last month, the Lucas County Commissioners passed an employment policy that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The law, which applies only to county employees, was something the commissioners unanimously supported.

“We wanted to make sure we’re evaluating our employees and promoting them based on the work they’re doing and not on other factors” said Commissioner Ben Konop.

The new policy is similar to ones in Cuyahoga, Franklin and Summit counties. However, the laws in Cuyahoga and Summit counties do not protect the rights of transgender employees whereas the Lucas and Franklin ones do.

While this distinction sets Lucas County apart from others, the commissioners were not the ones who initiated it. In fact, it was a little-known organization that helped set things in motion.

Over the last several years, Equality Toledo, a local organization dedicated to ending discrimination for people regardless of their sexual orientation or identity, had approached the Lucas County government about updating its discrimination laws.

“We’d been talking about this for a while,” said Kim Welter, the former executive director of Equality Toledo who now works for Equality Ohio in Columbus. However, “We’d never really gotten around to it.”

The talks were mostly on a recurring basis until Franklin County passed its own sexual orientation/gender identity ban. Equality Ohio then provided Lucas County officials with samples of the Franklin County law. With an actual model to base a plan on, the commissioners instructed the human resources department to look into the issue further.

They did. And what they found was surprising.

“I was told we didn’t have any equal opportunity employment policy in place and that we hadn’t really taken a look at this since the early 1980s,” said Konop.

Lucas County’s discrimination laws were based on Ohio’s nondiscrimination policy, which is, essentially, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 reworded. Signed by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964, the act prohibits most harassment and discrimination in the workplace.

“It wasn’t like we said, ‘Oh, wow! We’ve haven’t been doing this right!’ We’d been doing it right,” said Brian Cunningham, director of human resources for Lucas County. “But now was the time to publicly have something.”

Konop felt the policy would help Toledo with something it needs: economic growth.

“There’s a connection between diversity and acceptance for all people and economic growth,” he said. “The more diverse a community is the more economic opportunities will be present.”

Is he right? In 2006, the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. issued a report examining the state of U.S. cities. In it the research noted that young “workers tended to migrate towards larger, more diverse metropolitan areas, perhaps reflecting a higher degree of tolerance and appreciation for diversity.”

However, the study also found that job growth and high wages were factors in attracting new workers. Both are areas Toledo’s had trouble with recently, thanks partly to a shaky U.S. economy.

Still, there are some things even a robust economy can’t fix.

“It (the policy) doesn’t do anything for a person’s lived experience,” said Welter. “If someone goes into a restaurant in Sylvania, he can be thrown out because he’s gay. That’s still a problem.”

The Ohio legislature is considering a bill that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation for all housing, employment and public accommodation. The bill has bipartisan support, but it’s unclear when, or if, it will become law. So for now Lucas County remains one of the few counties to take a stand on the issue. And that’s something Konop sees as a positive step.

“I think what’s important about the measure is that it makes our community more of a beacon of progressive thought, progressive policy,” he said. “Toledo can be a community that promotes diversity and that will lead to economic growth and opportunities for all Lucas County citizens.”

$85,000 sexual-harassment settlement OK'd for ex-officers
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 7:54 PM
By BOBBY PIERCE
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Clinton Township agreed yesterday to pay a total of $85,000 to two former police officers who had said they were sexually harassed.

"No one admits any wrongdoing," said trustee chairman Bruce Tjampiris, who voted with trustee John Coneglio to approve the settlement.

Trustee Larry Wilkes stormed out of the meeting after reading a letter in which he said the township needed to be accountable for harassing the officers.

Patrick Sheehan will be paid $35,000 and Erik Vicars $50,000 in the settlement. In exchange, they agreed to withdraw their legal complaints against the township. The settlement money will be paid by an insurance company; the township, however, is responsible for ithe company's attorney fees.

Both officers complained to Michael Jones, the police chief at the time, that they had been the victims of slurs. They said no action was taken, and they filed complaints in August. Jones resigned as chief and now serves as a lieutenant.

The complaints centered on alleged harassment by Lt. Anthony Pfeifer, who is under investigation for e-mails he sent. Tjampiris said the does not expect the investigation to uncover any wrongdoing.

The two former officers also said other officers called them gay and used slurs to describe them. Other officers also refused to work with them, even in potentially violent situations, they said.

If there wasn't any guilt on the township's part, Wilkes said, then no settlement would be needed.

"The sad part is that those responsible for much of this harassment and those in a supervisory position who had the authority to stop it at the time have not even been put on administrative leave during the investigation, let alone disciplined," Wilkes said.

"Legal fees are very expensive," Tjampiris said, explaining that the township's insurer advised the trustees to settle.

The trustees yesterday accepted Vicars' resignation from the force. Vicars' attorney, Terry Kilgore, said the trustees fired the officer in January.

"The trustees want it under the rug," said Kilgore. "I don't want it under the rug."

No action will be taken against Jones or Pfeifer as a result of the settlement., and no practices will be changed inside the police department because the township does not accept any guilt, said Tjampiris.

The trustees and township fiscal officer Rebecca Christian refused to provide documents outlining the terms of the settlement. Ohio's open-records law and several court rulings say that governments may not keep settlement documents secret.

Christian said the township would not provide a copy of the settlement because "the other party" had not signed it yet. However, Wilkes and Kilgore both explained details of the settlement., and Kilgore provided a handwritten draft of it.

rpierce@dispatch.com

Gay-rights foes will be minority before long
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 4:03 AM
By Ann Fisher
The Columbus Dispatch

A state lawmaker from New Albany backed a bill this year that would give employment and housing protection to Ohio's gays and transsexuals.

That took some courage because the Senate leaders of his party, the Republicans, have no patience for the legislation. And similar bills never have received much attention in Ohio, let alone on-the-record hearings.

But Sen. David Goodman said his active endorsement of Senate Bill 305 was a no-brainer after a conversation in March with his father, a prominent Harvard-trained lawyer. That day, he reminded his son why Jewish law firms first opened in Columbus: No one else would hire Jewish lawyers at the time.

That sort of discrimination is illegal now in Ohio -- unless you're gay.

Later that day in March, Goodman received a call from a friend who is pushing for Senate Bill 305 and House Bill 502, companion measures that were introduced that month. His friend asked him to co-sponsor the Senate bill.

"How could I say 'No' after what my father had told me about my own family's past?" Goodman said.

Gay-rights opponents still carry the day in Ohio, so those of us on the other side still celebrate even a few Senate hearings on the bill. But those days might be numbered.

Another generation of voters -- and the people they elect to represent them -- will be taking over in a few years. If the polls are any indication, they won't tolerate intolerance.

Research and exit-poll data studied by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement suggest that youth support for equal protections for gay people crosses partisan, ideological and religious lines.

The same data indicate that, across the board, at least 85 percent of people ages 15-25 support equal protection in housing and employment.

Eighty-five percent. That same group now falls within the age range of 19-29.

State Rep. Dan Stewart, a Columbus Democrat, has worked on this issue since he was a Senate legislative aide a decade ago. Now sponsor of the House bill, Stewart said the hearings are a good sign because they "advance the education and the cause."

His colleagues are getting smarter and better educated about the issue, and better prepared to respond to the form letters sent by those who say that equal protection is somehow a "special status" when it comes to gays and transsexuals.

And those who say that such laws will bring a flood of lawsuits are just plain wrong, according to a 2002 report on 13 states by the U.S. General Accounting Office.

In the end, the only valid opposition is personal. No one, for example, can change the mind of the angry older man who called to criticize me for my support of gay rights, calling me an embarrassment to journalism.

He'll take that hate with him to the grave. And tolerance will bloom in his wake.

Ann Fisher is a Dispatch Metro columnist. She can be reached at 614-461-8759 or by e-mail. Check out her blog Furthermore… at blog.dispatch.com/ann/.

afisher@dispatch.com

May 23, 2008

Citizens visit Ohio lawmakers to urge equality bill's passage

by Eric Resnick

Columbus--The Equal Housing and Employment Non-Discrimination Act was on the minds of Ohio legislators last week as 362 volunteer lobbyists fanned out around Capitol Square.

LGBT people and allies from around the state visited 81 legislative offices in the Ohio Statehouse and nearby buildings on May 14, meeting with 40 House and Senate members, both Democrats and Republicans--the most ever. The rest met with legislators' staff members.

The third annual "Lobby Day," sponsored by Equality Ohio, was possibly the most productive yet.

The first event in 2006 drew 485 participants and was focused on introducing LGBT people to legislators and telling the stories of their lives.

Last year's brought 350 to the Statehouse to tell lawmakers that Ohio was ranked 51 among 50 states and the District of Columbia in protecting the rights of LGBT citizens.

This year, participants asked their representatives to remedy that by passing the non-discrimination act, also known as EHEA.

The measure prohibits discrimination by sexual orientation and gender identity or expression in public and private employment, housing and public accommodations.

The day before, it was considered by the Senate Judiciary and Civil Justice Committee.

Trisha Hershey, an aide to State Sen. Tom Niehaus of New Richmond, heard a constituent tell how she lives in fear of losing her job at a hospital.

Niehaus, a Republican, is the majority floor leader.

"With my transitioning, things are getting uncomfortable there," said the woman, who is not out at work. She added that a friend had been fired for transitioning on the job.

Joining her in Neihaus' office were John Farina and David Howard of Cleveland.

Farina told Hershey about his employment experience at a Cleveland area bank.

"Once my name appeared in the paper as a gay activist," Farina said, "I got moved around to all the bad branches. These things happen all the time."

Howard said he had been fired for coming out at work when he was 40. His attorney told him to file a suit for age discrimination because there is no protection based on sexual orientation.

"My integrity didn't let me do it," Howard said.

The visitors were pleasantly surprised that legislators and staffers remembered the stacks of "Fired" cards they were given when EHEA was introduced in March. The postcards, signed by dozens to hundreds of people in each lawmaker's district, explain how LGBT Ohioans have no protection from discrimination.

"When I worked in Columbus and lived in Canal Winchester, my status changed twice a day, going to and coming home from work," R.J. McKay told Lori Plato, who is Republican Rep. Kevin DeWine's aide.

DeWine is the House speaker pro tempore and deputy chair of the Ohio Republican Party.

McKay, who now lives in Beavercreek, told Plato that it was wrong to lose protection by crossing into a community that does not have a human rights ordinance, and that EHEA would make protection uniform throughout the state.

McKay joined Dan and Nancy Tepfer, Dr. Juli Burnell, Patty Thompson, Antonia Harter and Judy Nablo in the visit with Plato. All live in DeWine's district.

Plato said DeWine likes hearing from constituents.

Thompson said her gay son left Ohio because he would not be protected from discrimination.

"If laws were based on equality, we wouldn't be destroying families," Thompson said, with some emotion.

Burnell told the story of her partner, a psychologist for the state of Ohio who could not ask her boss for bereavement time in 2001, because she would have to explain her relationship with Burnell.

Burnell said that with Gov. Ted Strickland's executive order last year banning discrimination in state employment, her partner was able to come out and take advantage of leave afforded married partners.

Dan Tepfer told Plato that DeWine is not risking anything by supporting EHEA.

"David Hobson voted for it in the U.S. House," Tepfer said.

Hobson is a Republican whose congressional district includes DeWine's Ohio House one.

Shih-Hua Yu left Cleveland on a Greyhound bus at 4:30 am to join the lobbyists. She is a first-year graduate student at Case Western Reserve University studying social administration.

Yu is not lesbian, but has a friend back home in Taiwan who is, and decided to join the lobbying effort on her behalf.

Following the legislative visits, participants discussed their experiences.

The main issue of concern is that more education has to be done around transgender needs. Lawmakers need to meet more transgender constituents.

During the day Equality Ohio also raised $11,000 from participants, allowing access to an additional $10,000 matching funds from the Gill Foundation. The money paid for the cost of the event.

Lesbian comedian Kate Clinton performed for 600 people at the Southern Theater the night before lobbyists hit the Statehouse. That event raised money for Equality Ohio's Educational Fund.

Clinton also entertained lobbyists during the event's Wednesday morning orientation.

The lobbyists also heard from Ohio Civil Rights Commission director G. Michael Payton, Democratic State Sen. Dale Miller of Cleveland, who is EHEA's lead senate sponsor, and Republican State Sen.David Goodman of Columbus, who is also a sponsor and chair of the committee hearing it.

The lead sponsors in the House, Democrat Dan Stewart of Columbus and Jon Peterson of Delaware, also addressed the group.

At day's end, a reception for lawmakers was held at the Capitol Hyatt Hotel. It raised an additional $3,000 from 50 attendees.

Legislators at the reception included State Reps. Jay Goyal of Mansfield, Mike Skindell of Lakewood, Ted Celeste of Grandview Heights, and Dan Stewart of Columbus, all Democrats. A number of others sent staff members.

State Sens. Tom Sawyer of Akron and Jason Wilson of Columbiana, both Democrats, attended.

Goyal, who is not an EHEA co-sponsor and had been uncommitted on it, told a group of his constituents at the reception that he is "supportive of EHEA" and "would vote for it."

Wilson also said he would have to see the final version before voting yes, adding "I support the premise and believe in respect for all Ohioans."

Wilson is also not a co-sponsor and had previously not indicated support.

Equality Ohio director Lynne Bowman said the event was "another amazing day," adding that it signals "maturity and real change."

"In 2006, we were all nervous about doing this," Bowman said. "Now people know what they are doing and they get to business."

Groups returning from visits also observed that legislative aides know who Equality Ohio is, and are getting familiar with LGBT lobbyists visiting them.

"No matter how smoothly things go or how many legislators we visit, the most impressive thing is seeing people jazzed about seeing their legislators," Bowman said. "That's what makes it special."

Bowman explained the drop in attendance over the first two years by saying, "It's not new anymore."

According to Bowman, 70 percent of participants this year had come before.

"It's a big commitment," Bowman said. "The group that keeps coming each year is turning into a tight and effective one."

Supporters and opponents of new anti-gay discrimination law clash in hearing
by Bill Cohen
May 13, 2008

to hear this clip click here

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