Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Anti-discrimination ordinance rhetoric heats up
Posted by Jessica Mayrer on Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 2:44 PM
Rhetoric is heating up in the weeks leading up to an April 12 Missoula City Council discussion whether to pass an ordinance that would make it illegal to deny services, employment or housing to people based on sexual orientation or gender expression.
The tension was highlighted Sunday as representatives from Missoula’s conservative CrossPoint Community Church, led by senior pastor and outspoken ordinance naysayer Dr. Bruce Speer, crashed a meeting of religious community members gathered to discuss their support of the pending ordinance.
Pastor Peter Shober from the University Congregational Church (UCC), which hosted the gathering, says UCC made it clear when issuing invitations that the meeting was solely for supporters of the anti-discrimination ordinance.
And so it was unsettling when Speer showed up with four other men. “Was it an act of intimidation, I don’t know,” Shober says.
Speer’s Sunday appearance comes on the heels of last week’s emergence of a group dubbing itself “Not My Bathroom” (NMB) led by two of Montana’s most outspoken self-proclaimed moral arbiters, Tei Nash and Dallas Erickson. The group announced its arrival on the Missoula scene with a press release decrying the proposed anti-discrimination ordinance as a gateway to pedophilia and rape.
According to the NMB release, “Businesses and the city taxpayers should be aware that if a rape or child molestation case occurs in a businesses bathroom as a result of this law both the business and the city can be sued by the victims. For these and many other reasons a coalition of several organizations and individuals has formed an alliance which will target the defeat of the proposed ordinance.”
But city officials are saying NMB’s argument doesn’t hold water, as there are no laws currently prohibiting a man from using a woman’s restroom and vice versa. That’s not what the law is about. Really, it’s about providing legal recourse to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who have been denied housing employment or services based on their identity.
It’s pretty apparent the council has enough votes to push the law through, but it remains to be seen how much of a fuss NMB and CrossPoint will make leading up to it’s passage.
Comments (21)
Showing 1-21 of 21
I've never been to this web-site. It would be helpful if the editor would state that the diatribe by Jessica Mayrer is an opinion, because it's obviously not an objective report.
But, what do you expect from the so called "free thinking" Independent. Just disagree with its far-left liberal agenda and find out. You're so bias in your reporting that I don't bother to read the Independent anymore nor pay to advertise in it. I bet that if you had to charge for it your circulation would go way down. Conservatives wouldn't buy it and we know how cheap liberals are with their own money.
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Actually, I am a native Missoulian who was once fired from a business on Higgins street because I was bisexual. My boss told me that if I was totally straight or totally gay it would have been fine, but the fact that I was both was "creepy." So she fired me. I wanted to kill myself. I sure wish there had been an ordinance in place like this one.
Thank you Jessica!! I love the irony of Chick's "diatribe" accusation!!
I'm so glad this ordinance was proposed. Not merely for the push to equality, because I expect that in my city and my country - I'm glad because it flicked on the light and I saw all of the hateful groups and individuals before they skittered under the fridge. I had no idea - and, uh, how can you squish 'em if you don't know they're there?
MsHeather- I don't pretent to be a reporter like Jessica. Woudn't it be nice where all sides of an issue could give a Jessica a "job well done" for an objective an informative report. You proved my point about disagreeing with the far-left liberal agenda. All you can spew out of your mouth is hatred for someone who might just disagree with you in the arena of ideas. What you do in the privacy of your own home is your business. Just don't demand that those who disagree with your life style be forced to accept it because you are given special rights.
Chick, have you noticed that Missoula HAS a free, advertising-supported, liberal newspaper, while no such thing (to my knowledge) exists for conservatives here? Why don't you go start your own paper if you're so offended by the Independent? Why are you wasting your time here? Nobody, except you, expects the Independent to be "fair and balanced."
Carebear, I'm so sorry for what happened to you. (And I'm straight.) This is a good, common-sense ordinance.
Chick - You're expecting to be ignored and/or picked on. Funny thing is, people like you are all for exclusionary tactics, controlling with fear and hate and descrimination....tell me, how does it feel?
squishes and kisses from your evil, liberal neighbor xxooxx
now, get off my lawn.
MsHeather- The whole point of my original comment was to point out the reporter's obvious bias in her article. All you can do is continue to call me names instead of addressing the issues I have brought up. It's okay to have different opinions and still have a civil discourse between us. But, you'll have to come up with a better argument of saying someone is hateful just because they disagree with your opinion. Sorry to hear that you think of yourself as being evil. What have you done to think that? To me there is no greater evil or hatred than when someone willfully in a premeditated manner takes the life of another human being, including the unborn human.
To not-so happy bunny: The report by Jessica Mayrer popped up on my Earthlink home page. Since I'm "offended" by the liberal slant of the Independent I chose not to read it or support it with my advertising dollars.
Chick, you seem like a sweetheart. Thank you for supporting the Missoula Independent by frequenting their web-site and therefore supporting them through your web hit. I do not have "hatred for someone who disagrees with me," although I would ask that rather than attempting to 'inform' the liberal masses with hysterical, non-factual drivel that you would please bring a good and logical argument to the table as to why discriminating against people is a good idea for Missoula. It is not special treatment when a group of people is given the SAME rights as everyone else. It is called equal protection, and it is quite in accordance with the constitution of this great nation.
what about the rights of a woman in the public restroom that doesn't want a strange man in there with her....just because he's gay, or says he is???? that makes him safe???
I own a public business in the missoula area, and my customers will use the appropriate restrooms for their gender, or they can get the hell out and go to another business.
Nuff said....
Wow, Chick actually proves something not brought up enough, that seeing things only as you expect to see them -- conservatives ranting about liberal bias and hatred of disagreement when none actually exists -- is very much the same kind of logic as alcoholics and people experiencing psychotic breaks. No information that doesn't fit into to an already set in stone set of facts and arguments have any effect. I'm not sure which one of these applies most to Glen Beck, but the logic is definitely not connected to actual life.
"what about the rights of a woman in the public restroom that doesn't want a strange man in there with her....just because he's gay, or says he is???? that makes him safe???
I own a public business in the missoula area, and my customers will use the appropriate restrooms for their gender, or they can get the hell out and go to another business.
Nuff said...."
No law in Montana indicates a requirement for segregated public restrooms in the first place. This ordinance isn't even about restrooms. These nut-jobs from out of town took it upon themselves to make it about restrooms. What business do you operate? I'd love to be sure I avoid it.
jrob....obviously, you're gay and in favor of this, i'm talking about the restroom part of it. these days, the average person is a minority because everyone is trying so hard to be politically correct and not insult anyone. I say, screw them, i'll insult whom I want, including you. I haven't heard of one business, yet, denying services to a gay. gays, people of color, etc... are always trying to play the "poor me" card, I'm sick of it. I'll serve whom I want, haven't you ever heard the term, "we reserve the right to serve or not serve anyone we want" it's my damn business, i bought and paid for it with my money, not yours.
Again, Farrari guy you missed the point. I believe Jrob tried to inform you that your hysteria over this bill is misplaced. He also tried to get you to go public about the name of your business. And since you have a 'screw them' attitude, I'm sure you couldn't be one of the 17 businesses who support NWB.com, as long as they don't need to put their business name next to their opinion. Why would someone want to be anonymous?
Have you ever fired, or not hired someone because of their race? Would you fire your best employee if you found out they were gay, even if their job performance remained perfect? If you answered "no" then you really don't have much to worry about with this law. If you answered yes, then I understand why you'd be worried. But, in that case, your problems run much deeper than the scope of this law.
This whole bathroom issue is just a smoke-screen being blown out by the morality police in Ravalli County. And don't even try to tell Dallas Erickson that it is "your damn business." Dallas has made a life out of interfering with legitimate business owners, and his starting of NMB.com is just an extension of that.
The reality is that Gay men will continue to use the stall next to you. Trans-women will continue to go about their business in the privacy of a women's room stall. NOTHING will change in the world of private bathrooms, whether it makes you uncomfortable or not. It is already happening, and it is not going to stop. Bathroom use is a non-issue. Really, the entire NMB.com argument is a smoke-screen for the real issue people have with this law, which is the fear people have of those they perceive as different or abnormal.
and before you go jumping to conclusions, I'm a straight man who's married. I have a kid and another on the way. My dad has owned his family business in Missoula since 1984. We all support this law, because we all know that this law will have no direct effect on us, and how we do business.
What difference would it make if I were gay, ferrariguy? Is the fact that I can spell correctly and string words together to make a coherent sentence somehow indicative of my sexual orientation? You're the worst kind of fool, an angry one.
Oh, and since you claim to know so much about the constitution, "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone..." is meaningless. Its just a bunch of words. A lot of those minorities you despise fought hard to guarantee every individual's right to patronize whichever business he or she chooses. Just try to deny service to someone in your alleged "public" business and see how that works out when they happen to have a crackerjack lawyer and time on their hands.
i never said that i despise minorities, you're putting words in my mouth, as people do when they have nothing valid to say.
I reserve the right to refuse service to anyone at any time, for any reason.
No, in answer to your question, I have never refused service to anyone in regards to race, creed, color or sexual preference. I'm just tired of busy bodies that feel they need to control everyone elses' business.
Just like the smoking ban in bars, there were already non smoking bars and if you didn't like smoke, you didn't have to go to a smoking bar, it's not a constitutional right to go into a bar. but, the antismokers have to mind everyone elses' business, as usual.
It seems there is always someone wanting to make my decisions for me.
and, jrob, I've thrown many, many people out of my business.
Refuse service to anyone cause I'm a rich ass that needs to be spanked. You should be able to smoke in a bar if you feel the need. If your in a bar long enough to to get Lung Cancer from 2nd hand smoke you got bigger problems to worry about you dumb f$ck. I can't go in the bar I'm allergic to smoke wa wa wa. It's like America finds new illness every year for people to cry about. If I'm allergic to bees do I outlaw honey for everyone else you stay the heel away from them. You probably do despise minorities though. I know some of you downtown business owners do. Me being a minority knows that. You may not say so but I can see it when you look at me with disgust in your eyes. It's O.K though I feel for you.
@Jrob:
Hey 'Jrob,' you wouldn't hapen to be some dudes psycho ex girlfriend posing as them online would you? Start rumors about him being a meanie anonymous blogger while posing as him online?
I'd like to address Chick's comment about "special rights" given to sexual minorities.
How do you come up with the notion that for sexual minorities to be treated like human beings that we are given "special" rights? Isn't it reasonable that members of the LGBT community should be able to find housing and hold jobs without fear of retribution because of who we are and who we love? We're not deviants or perverts. We are your neighbors, members of your churches, productive members of society.
To be able to live a life free from discrimination isn't "special." People should stop and think before they get behind a cause that brings strife to other people's lives.
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