“People are people no matter who they love” was the statement released by the City of Moscow when the non-discrimination ordinance was passed in April 2013.
The Human Rights Commission held a forum at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Moscow City Council Chambers ordinance to answer questions that have come up since the ordinance was first passed.
The ordinance defines non-discrimination in employment and housing to include sexual orientation and gender identity, and was a reaction to many failed attempts at passing statewide non-discrimination legislature, said Katherine Sprague, lifelong Moscow resident and business owner.
“Some of the larger communities have gone that direction, because obviously the legislature is not interested,” Sprague said. “Between the Republican party going to the extreme right and the religious views of a lot of people in southern Idaho getting a fair hearing, even getting a hearing, for “Add the Words” just isn’t going to happen. So, in the more liberal, more forward thinking communities, they’ve just gone ahead and done it. I would love to see rural Idaho follow suit.”
The “Add the Words” campaign has been working for eight years to convince the Idaho Legislature to pass a law that would ensure protection for the LGBTQA community in the workplace and while renting property. So far the state legislature has been uncooperative, Sprague said.
Rebecca Tallent, associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Media, said that while Idaho does not encourage discrimination, it doesn’t discourage it either.
“In fact, there is a state law on the books that allows for discrimination on the basis of sexual identity in terms of employment, housing, any number of things,” Tallent said. “And there is a new law being proposed that would allow for even more discrimination towards LGBTQA individuals and single women — which I find personally to be an interesting combination — that’s before the legislature right now.”
Tallent is also a member of the Moscow Human Rights Commission and said that contrary to popular belief, federal law does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual identity.
“A lot of people will say well that’s covered under federal law — no it’s not. Federal law prohibits discrimination on the base of gender, on the base of race, other things, but not sexual identity,” Tallent said. “Moscow is one of I think five cities in Idaho that have passed similar ordinances.”
There is also a proposal before the Idaho Legislature that would prohibit cities from passing ordinances like Moscow’s anti-discrimination ordinance and would automatically reverse cities that have such ordinances, Tallent said.
“There have been lots of questions raised about the ordinance … you know we planned the meeting before the legislature started proposing some of these new laws … and so we had planned this but now that we’re seeing the legislature come up and make these new proposals. We’re saying, you know, this is really pretty important that people understand why such discrimination really is not good for our community,” Tallent said.
The Moscow Human Rights Commission examines human rights issues — like the issue of discrimination against the LGBTQA community — as they come up in the Moscow, Sprague said.
“And (the commission is) basically interested individuals who come together once a month and discuss issues with human rights importance within Moscow,” Tallent said. “We were one of the groups along with the city’s Fair Housing Commission, which originally proposed this ordinance, and recommended that the city pass it. You know, we worked with the city to develop the language.”
During the forum, community members discussed with the panel members why the non-discrimination ordinance is important. They discussed how it impacts business, citizens and the city itself, Sprague said.
“The other thing for business that makes it very important is we have a pride festival that brings in a lot of tourist dollars,” Sprague said. “And in the coming years, the focus of our pride festival is to be inclusive to families. Our pride festival is very child friendly and that is intentional. And so the ordinance also says to people who are coming in with their tourist dollars that they are respected. That we want them here we understand the importance of their family, we understand treating them with respect and having a safe work environment. That sends a huge message if you’re not from around here.”
Amber Evans Pinel
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