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Metro Council Votes to Ban Discrimination Against Gay Workers
We've come a long way since 2003 when the Metro Council refused to ban discrimination against gay and lesbian city workers. Tonight, the council voted 23-16 to right that wrong. The proposed ordinance by Megan Barry passed on the crucial second reading, which usually is tantamount to final approval.
Council member Jim Hodge
Throughout the debate, the legislation's opponents argued, not against Barry's bill per se, but in favor of another one by Sam Coleman, which they claimed would do a better job of protecting all city workers from discrimination based on "non-merit" factors. But that was a ruse. Coleman's bill would do nothing concrete. Instead, as everyone seemed to understand, its main purpose was to give council members a way to vote against Barry's bill without appearing like homophobic rubes.
In the end, only one council member, south Nashville's Jim Hodge, made the case that God wants Metro workers exposed to discrimination based on sexual orientation. As a reminder of how far some in our city still have to go to join the 21st century, here are excerpts from Hodge's remarks:
"As a Christian, I cannot endorse a lifestyle that is condemned in both the old testament and new. So I'll vote no. ... The sponsor has stated this will be a basis for individuals to bring legal court action against this government. It doesn't make sense to me. We strive to not get in situations that result in court actions against our government. I saw a definition of a politician last weekend. Somebody who tries to fix something that's not broken. I think that applies in this situation."For those constituents and members of our community who are in the homosexual community, who have sat at my dining room table, who have had conversations with me, I cannot support or endorse a lifestyle that is unhealthy. We as a government make many suggestions and recommendations to folks to live a better lifestyle whether it's menu labeling, whether it's exercising, whether it's recycling, because it's good for the individual or it's good for the community.
"We ask folks to leave their cigarettes outside. As a guy who's smoked for 20 years, I know how hard that it is to do. But I had to make a choice and I did and it was a hard choice. It was hard to do. Some of us have been on diets like Councilman Forkum and me last year so our joints would work. It's not easy to make a lifestyle change but it can be done.
"When I look at the information on this lifestyle, it's not something that we should endorse. Individuals here are eight times more likely to have to seek professional mental health treatment for all manner of reasons. Those in a committed relationship, four times more likely to have multiple partners. That's not stable. Significantly higher rate of STDs, about 60 percent, and a shorter lifespan of about 14 years. I would think that we as a government should be encouraging our folks to make better lifestyle choices than this. I will vote no."
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