Under Idaho state law, it is still possible to fire a person on the basis of sexual orientation — just as it is lawful to ban a person from renting an apartment or discriminate against members of the LGBT community when they seek public accommodation.
“This is the year to change that,” said Mistie Tolman, organizer of the Add the Words movement, a Boise group working toward the addition of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the Idaho Human Rights Act.
The activist group put on a rally at 1 p.m. Jan. 11 at the Idaho Statehouse as a message to lawmakers that discrimination needs to end.
“There’s a big chunk of Idahoans today that don’t feel safe in our beautiful state,” Tolman said.
The change in wording in the legislation aims to ensure that gay, lesbian and transgender individuals will be equally protected throughout the state and that discrimination surrounding employment, housing and education will end. Tolman said the group has been waiting eight years for public hearing in the legislature.
Bill sponsors Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb, D-Boise, and Rep. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, spoke at the event and emphasized the importance of treating others with dignity and respect, regardless of sexual orientation or race.
“I stand before you today to implore our legislators to stop quotin’, and start votin’,” Buckner-Webb said. “Justice is a way of life for each and every person.”
The symbol of the Add the Words movement is a simple sticky note. During the 2011 legislative session, activists in support of Add the Words placed sticky notes on the doors of the Senate State Affairs Committee where the piece of legislation was waiting for hearing.
According to the group’s Facebook page, the notes became the voice and presence at the Statehouse for nearly 100 people who wanted to testify and support the legislation. But now, Tolman said it is a fineable offense to continue to place sticky notes in the Statehouse.
Nicole Betty-Hayworth has lived in Boise for eight years and said she has participated in her fair share of equal rights presentations.
“We’ve been having demonstrations for eight years,” Betty-Hayworth said. “I can’t believe this is even still an issue anymore.”
Betty-Hayworth, whose brother is married to a man and living in Washington — where same-sex marriage is legal — said her brother has no reason to come home and it would be unsafe for him to return to live in Idaho with his husband.
“Being a straight white woman, Boise is an incredibly safe place for me. If we would just add the words, (Idaho) would be a whole lot safer for everyone,” Betty-Hayworth said.
During the rally, volunteers passed out short strips of brightly colored ribbon and permanent markers. Tolman said rally attendees should write their name and hometown on the ribbon. In grassy expanse in front of the Statehouse volunteers tied long steel wires between two sets of light poles. On the wires, attendees would tie their colored ribbon as a message and reminder to lawmakers driving past the display Monday morning.
As of Jan. 10, the day before the event, the group had more than 1,800 “likes” on Facebook and 716 individuals said they were attending the event. Betty-Hayworth said almost twice as many people as expected had shown up to the rally. Other speakers at the event included Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest CEO Elaine Rose, Zach Bramwell of Capital High School, Chair of the Human Relations Advisory Committee of Pocatello Susie Matsuura and singer-songwriter Curtis Stiger gave an acoustic performance.
“It’s time for the legislature to listen to the majority of voters and that discrimination is wrong,” Tolman said.
More information can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/addthewords
Chloe Rambo can be reached at [email protected]
Follow her on Twitter @CRcholoerambo