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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNon-Discrimination Ordinance Public Comment from Gloria Hardin 5-2-14 To: The Members of the Bozeman City Commission Re: The Non-Discrimination Ordinance Discussion,April 25, 2014 The city of Bozeman, MT already has a Non-Discrimination Ordinance. It is in the Declaration of Independence, "that all men are created equal." Anytime one class of people is given special elevated status over all other classes you have discrimination and it is in violation of the 141h Amendment to the Constitution_ LGB citizens are employed across the city in the schools,at MW local government, and local businesses. The Bozeman streets are cleared for local Gay Pride events every year. LBGTs are also protected under the Montana Real Estate Laws. If the Bozeman city commissioners are going to give special protective status to one group of people,why not include all of its citizens rather than a preferred few. Sixty per cent of black people are offended whenever LBGTs use the race card. They have not faced discrimination in the same way that black people or Jews have. A black person or Jew cannot change his color or race but thousands of people have left the gay lifestyle. I have met a few. Caring organizations and counselors have helped them achieve that. A close relaf.ve of mine, a high school student, was pursued and harassed by a gay student on a weekly basis for over a year. He went above and beyond the call of duty where tolerance is concerned. When the NDO is passed,kids like him will have no recourse. If a parent tries to step in to report the matter, they could be sued for a hate crime because now LGBTs have elevated and preferential status. Children will suffer the most. "Gender Spectrum," a consulting organization that addresses the concepts of gender identity and expression says that"gender identity is sometimes fluid"meaning that interests and expressions can change from day to day, moving between masculine and fernale genders"on a daily basis. This can make it very difficult and confusing for children not knowing how to address a teacher from one day to the next. One day it's Mr. The next day it's Ms. This is already happening in some states. It is difficult enough for children to learn the 3 R's let alone to be thrown into confusion from day to day. Not only would this sexualize a classroom it would be an assault on students and done in violation of parents to know that their children deserve a psychologically stable and emotionally secure environment in which to learn. When taken into a business scenario,gender identity could be just as confusing, bringing about frivolous lawsuits to employers and employees who did not intentionally want to cause hurt feelings. "Think Progress"an organization who counsels BGLTs about the risks of complete transformation surgery states,"some want to keep their procreative ability butfor others the surgery is too expensive." Local governments and employers could end up paying for these surgeries since they would be forced to affirm the person's gender identity. The cost alone could cause many small businesses to go under. We've already heard about this happening in other states. "Gender expressions"is very broad terminology and is not defined. LBGTQs across the country hava used this term as a license for public displays of nudity in gay pride events and sexual expressions and orgies inside and outside of public facilities and in parks. Problems in public facilities have been reported across the country. KIRO- TV reported in October of 2012 a transgender male identifying as a woman was displaying male anatomy in a sauna in a recreation facility of Evergreen State College in Washington State. The locker room facility is shared with a high school swim club and a children's swim academy where children as young as 6 use the locker room_ The incident had traumatized some young teenage girls. This was after an NDO was passed. Recently, a transgender MSU staff member wrote a letter to the editor in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle expressing the need for all gender bathrooms and dorms for LBGTQs. Imagine how humiliating and shameful this would be for go% of Bozeman citizens to be forced to share all public restrooms, shower rooms,locker rooms, and dorm rooms with all genders. Imagine the chaos this would cause in the public grade schools,high schools, and colleges. I heard one single father say he would be forced to accompany his young girls to all the women's restrooms and public facilities to ensure their safety if the NDO is passed. Women and children's loss of liberty, privacy, and security to freely use a public facility without feeling threatened or uncomfortable is unconscionable. If a man is able to go from straight, to bi- to transgender under the fluid behavior that"Gender Spectum" informs about, then he could easily transition into a man in a women's restroom or locker room or wherever his identity takes him. Any man could dress as a woman,walk into a woman's locker room and start filming,hide a camera, or worse. What I am really hearing fi om the Bozeman commissioners and what is not being said is that public facilities are off limits to go% of the public_ New public facility signs will need to read, "Enter at Your Own Risk." I feel that the general public's privacy, security, and safety in public facilities are being ignored by the city commission. Since the introduction of this new NDO ordinance,I have never experienced this much division within a city, and I have lived here for 42 years. I came from the "heartland," the land where ladies and gentlemen still exist. I considered this my new"heartland." I have never heard so much vehement hatred spewed towards Christians and upstanding citizens. While it is discriminatory to say anything about a person of color,Jew, Muslim, or BGLTQs,it is open season on Christians_ They are being called hate mongers, ignorant,homophobes,and bigots,simply for loving,honoring, and obeying 1 their God and His laws. In one article of the Chronicle, Christians were being unfairly compared to the Ku Klux Klan. The LGBQs and the ACLU are calling Christian beliefs "archaic." Is this anew step in America to begin Bible burning or worse, marching people off to the gas chambers as in the days of Hitler? 12 million Jews were annihilated and i1 million Christians with them for providing safe harbor for the Jews. Therefore, I don't believe hate mongers fits the description. Whatever happened to one person,one vote? I am asking that you please do not pass the NDO/TI-,e Forced Participation Ordinance.