Gay Rights Ordinance: Is Lansing Ready?
Thirteen Michigan communities have adopted gay civil rights

By CHAD DALLY

Encouraged by victories across Michigan and by the support of a majority on City Council, Lansing gay rights activists are eyeing another effort to win equal rights.
"People in the past several years have a broader viewpoint on gay and lesbian issues," said Ingham County Commissioner Chris Swope, an openly gay man elected last year.

It’s been five years since Lansing voters repealed an ordinance that barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The ordinance, which City Council had approved 5-3, lost by a 4 percent margin.

Five members of Council still support gay rights, which is one reason Swope and several other gay leaders believe the time may be ripe to try again. Bob Egan and Cheryl VanDeKerKhove, who led the 1996 campaign, agreed with Swope that the environment is right in Lansing to start talking about gay rights again. Michael Todd, president of the Lansing Association for Human Rights, the area’s major gay rights organization, said, "Overall, the whole climate is changing in many cities. It’s probably a good time to bring it up in Lansing."

In Huntington Woods, more than 60 percent of the population approved an ordinance on Nov. 6 banning discrimination against gays and lesbians in employment, housing and city service. Overall, gay rights are protected in 13 cities across the state, including East Lansing.

Also, voters in Kalamazoo and Traverse City defeated measures that would have permanently prevented the cities from including sexual orientation in their civil rights policies.

Egan, who chairs the Lansing Human Relations Committee Advisory Board, said he plans to raise the issue before the board and hopes it will be willing to "take the temperature of the public" to find out how the rest of the city feels about gay rights. That could include public hearings on the issue and door-to-door surveys of Lansing residents to determine the amount of support or opposition.

"I will challenge the Human Relations board, the City Council and the citizens of this city to stop discrimination and to stop buying into the stereotypes of gays and lesbians," Egan said.

Perhaps the biggest question is who else is willing to take the time to challenge the city. Egan and VanDeKerKhove co-chaired the Lansing Equal Rights Task Force, and it took their organization five years to bring the ordinance to the Council. They are unsure if they are ready to make the commitment to lead a new effort.

With their experience it probably wouldn’t take as long as last time, Egan said, but a "strong commitment of at least one year, maybe even two or three" is needed.

Swope said the best solution to the leadership problem may be to hire someone to run the campaign.
Swope said gay rights leaders need to decide the best approach. One would be to ask Council to approve another ordinance. A second would be to ask Council to put it up to a vote in a general election without approving an ordinance. And a third would be a petition drive to put in on the ballot that bypassed Council altogether.

"Taking it directly to the voters might make more sense," Swope said, because "you add confusion" if you require two votes. "Any time you add confusion, people vote no because they don’t understand."

If gay-rights activists do ask for City Council’s support, indications are they will receive it by at least the same margin as last time.
Likely supporters are:

1. At-large member Joan Bauer, who voted for the ordinance in 1996.

2. Harold Leeman, whose 1st Ward covers northeastern Lansing. He voted for the previous ordinance and would do so again.

3. At-large member Carol Wood, who was elected to Council in 1999. She said she would support a gay rights ordinance, although she said that religious organizations should not be forced to compromise their beliefs to cooperate with such an ordinance.

4. Council President Lou Adado, an at-large member serving his first term, said he supported the gay rights ordinance in 1996 and that his opinion "hasn’t changed." He said the repeal of the previous ordinance is deceiving.

"A public vote doesn’t always reflect the mood of the whole city," Adado said. He added that while there may be support for gays and lesbians, it may not translate into votes.

The only provision of the ordinance he said he did not agree with exempted religious organizations from adhering to it.

5. Geneva Smith, council member-elect for the 4th Ward, which is the center of Lansing. Smith ran as a flat-out advocate of gay rights.

While the votes appear to be there, Leeman offers a note of caution: "Last time this played out, the Council that was there rose to the occasion. But some of my colleagues have never been tested, and there’s a difference between talking and actually voting on the issue."

Of the other Council members, none is ready to take a firm position yet.
Third Ward member Tony Benevedes, who represents parts of South and West Lansing, voted against the ordinance in 1996 because he thought gays and lesbians were already protected under state law. However, sexual orientation is not included in the state’s Eliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

And while he said he is the "first to step up and defend their rights," Benavides said also disagreed with a provision of the 1996 ordinance that he said extended familial status to same-sex partners, which he believes should not be included in the definition of family.

At-large member Larry Meyer, who was elected in 1997, said he is undecided. "I won’t presuppose anything until I see something in front of me." Meyer voted against the 1996 ordinance at the polls because of technicalities he disagreed with in the language of the proposal. He also said the debate over the issue was "mean-spirited and divided us as a community," though he refused to blame either side.

2nd Ward Council member Sandy Allen said her vote would depend on the mood of her constituents. She said she personally supported gay rights five years ago but voted against the ordinance because it lacked support in her ward, which covers southeastern Lansing.

"What people don’t understand is that I, or anyone else, could be fired from my job for being gay, with no legal recourse within the city or state," Egan said. "It’s unfortunate that Lansing has not found a way to protect gays and lesbians It would be a strong statement for the capital city to stand up for these rights."