Action Alert

House Judiciary votes to repeal Missoula and Bozeman policies

Much has happened this morning and we will get you a more in-depth email soon. We want to update you on an attempt by the House Judiciary Committee to overturn the Missoula Anti-Discrimination Ordinance, and similar inclusive policies now in place in Bozeman. We also have an immediate request for action that follows at the end of this message.

After decades of the state failing to protect LGBT Montanans, the House Judiciary Committee decided this morning to take away the right of localities to protect their own residents. HB 516 by Havre’s Rep. Kris Hansen passed on a 13-7 vote, with Helena’s Rep. Liz Bangarter joining all six Democrats on the committee voting against it.

Localities have the right and the legal ability to go beyond the Montana Human Rights Act. The Montana Human Rights Act sets the floor. It does not set the ceiling. Cities have the authority to establish ordinances and policies that protect and value members of their communities that have faced a history of discrimination.

That is exactly what the City of Missoula did when it passed its Anti-Discrimination Ordinance in April of 2010.

This will repeal not only the Missoula ordinance – but existing policies and resolutions that other cities have passed to protect their residents. People from across the state came to speak out in opposition (Helena, Cardwell, Butte, Billings, Great Falls, Bozeman, Missoula, Sidney and Opportunity, MT all came to the Capitol on Friday to stand in opposition to HB 516) – and their testimony was not only limited to ten minutes total, but cut off.

We have to believe that basic Montana values of fairness and dignity will prevail – if not in the House, then in the Senate.

We need you to contact your Representative immediately. You can use this easy webform to have your message delivered:

http://leg.mt.gov/css/sessions/62nd/legwebmessage.asp

Please remember to be respectful, be direct – and share how this bill will personally impact you. Here are several talking points for your message:

After Montana has failed to protect LGBT Montanans at the state level for decades, localities have decided to take the initiative and protect their own residents. This is the right of cities and counties across Montana. The state sets a minimum standard for protections against discrimination. Cities and Counties can expand protected classes.

LGBT Montanans deserve to live their lives and fully participate in their communities without fear of losing their jobs or housing because or their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.

It is the right of cities and towns to take care of their residents and protect them from discrimination. The state of Montana should be in the business of extending these protections to LGBT Montanans, not repealing these protections.

Montanans value diversity and equality, and we know our strength as a community is based on treating each other fairly and with respect. Protections like the ones now in place in Bozeman and Missoula match our public policy to our values.

Sincerely,

Jamee Greer
Montana Human Rights Network

Press Resulting From/Covering Yesterday’s Human Rights Testimony

Feb19 by D Gregory Smith

I wasn’t prepared for the press covering the GOP’s hijacking of the rights of Montanans to speak in favor of, or against, legislation- I thought it would just be added to the pile of neglected issues stocked in the backrooms of Montana newspapers.

I was wrong.

To quote Dirty Dancing (which is what I’m calling the GOP’s shenanigans): “When I’m wrong, I say I’m wrong” (which is more than they’ll ever do).
From Lee Newspapers:

Social conservatives supported a bill Friday to nullify Missoula’s ordinance that protects residents from discrimination because of their sexual orientation and gender, while human rights advocates lined up against it….Some Democrats also objected to a decision by committee chairman, Rep. Ken Peterson, R-Billings, to not allow people unable to testify because of time constraints to at least stand and say their names. However, they figured out a way around it by having more than 50 opponents stand as Rep. Diane Sands, D-Missoula, read their each of their names from the sign-up list.

From The Associated Press:

Gay rights advocates were pushing to expand discrimination protection statewide — while conservative religious groups were backing a bill that aims to repeal a Missoula ordinance extending discrimination protection in that city based on sexual orientation.

The contentious nature of the issue and very short hearings on the two bills frayed nerves, as many who drove from out of town to testify were told there wasn’t enough time due to the House committee’s workload.

Next, the blogosphere. The most comprehensive I’ve seen so far is from Towleroad– which also has excellent links, including one to the Montana Public Radio coverage:

Testimony at Montana’s legislature got ugly yesterday over a proposed bill that would kill Missoula’s anti-discrimination ordinance and prevent local municipalities in the state from enacting similar ordinances, instead forcing them to recognize state laws, which currently don’t recognize LGBTs.

Intelligent Discontent provides an excellent roundup of Montana Blog coverage of the issue- I’m proud to stand with these folks. I won’t repeat it- just go have a look.

…and I hope it just strengthens your resolve to stand firm in the face of this bullshit.

My Statements Re: HB 516, HB 514

Feb18 by D Gregory Smith

February 18, 2011

Montana Legislators,

RE MT HB 516:

Every community should have the right to decide its own ordinances of inclusion. Ordinances of exclusion, usually reserved for dictatorships, theocratic states and societies of intolerance are another matter.
Creating a law that disallows protection is counterintuitive to the purpose of government as set forth in both the Federal and State Constitutions, in which are stated explicitly the government’s purpose to protect the citizenry from discrimination, violence and other harms.
This is an attempt to write prejudice and bigotry into the law. It is an attempt to tie local ordinances to State law in a way which keeps government from evolving as understanding, both scientific and social, creating a top-down model, instead of a cooperative, interdynamic process.
It is a blatant and ignorant effort to push a personal agenda of intolerance toward LGBT persons in obvious defiance of biological, social and psychological science.
This bill is discrimination and rejection of the right of communities to protect the citizens as they believe necessary. It enshrines bigotry, ignorance and personal belief in defiance of science, human experience and freedom.

RE HB 514:

1. The reality of difference in sexual orientation and gender identity is acknowledged by this bill.

2. The scientific evidence and positions of the scientific community regarding the reality of different sexual identities/orientations and the fluidity of gender identities are clear. The American Psychological Association recognizes the reality of heterosexuality, bisexuality and homosexuality. The APA also advocates against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Regarding sexual orientation:

Research has found that the people who have the most positive attitudes toward gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals are those who say they know one or more gay, lesbian or bisexual person well, often as a friend or co-worker. For this reason, psychologists believe that negative attitudes toward gay people as a group are prejudices that are not grounded in actual experience but are based on stereotypes and mis-information. Furthermore, protection against violence and discrimination are very important, just as they are for any other minority groups. Some states include violence against an individual on the basis of his or her sexual orientation as a “hate crime,” and ten U.S. states have laws against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Regarding gender identity:

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT APA opposes all public and private discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived gender identity and expression and urges the repeal of discriminatory laws and policies;

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT APA supports the passage of laws and policies protecting the rights, legal benefits, and privileges of people of all gender identities and expressions;

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT APA supports full access to employment, housing, and education regardless of gender identity and expression;

The American Medical Association says the following:

AMA Policy Regarding Sexual Orientation
General Policies:

H-65.992 Continued Support of Human Rights and Freedom. Our AMA continues (1) to support the dignity of the individual, human rights and the sanctity of human life, and (2) to oppose any discrimination based on an individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religion, disability, ethnic origin, national origin or age and any other such reprehensible policies. (Sub. Res. 107, A-85; Modified by CLRPD Rep. 2, I-95; Reaffirmation A-00; Reaffirmation A-05; Modified: BOT Rep. 11, A-07)

H-65.983 Nondiscrimination Policy. The AMA affirms that it has not been its policy now or in the past to discriminate with regard to sexual orientation or gender identity. (Res. 1, A-93; Reaffirmed: CCB Rep. 6, A-03; Modified: BOT Rep. 11, A-07)

H-65.990 Civil Rights Restoration. The AMA reaffirms its long-standing policy that there is no basis for the denial to any human being of equal rights, privileges, and responsibilities commensurate with his or her individual capabilities and ethical character because of an individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or transgender status, race, religion, disability, ethnic origin, national origin, or age. (BOT Rep. LL, I-86; Amended by Sunset Report, I-96; Modified: Res. 410, A-03)

Does Montana want to ignorantly proceed against the example of these two esteemed organizations?

3. Protection is not a special right, it is an equal right. We all have the right to live in peace and without the threat of violence, discrimination or subjugation. Studies and experience show that LGBT persons are constantly subject to bigotry, violence, and harassment. Indeed, LGBT teens are the highest risk group for suicide attempt and completion. Much of that is due to oppressive or negligent laws that fail to promote a sense of self-worth for every law-abiding citizen.

4. Montana has a history of live and let live. Without this bill, the lives of a significant number of Montanans are prevented from being full lives of integrity and equality. Without this bill, you continue to promote a second and third class of Montanans.

Sincerely,

D. Gregory Smith, MA, LMHCA

Butte

Shining A Light Into The Scary Scary Dark…

Feb17 by D Gregory Smith

Whether or not you believe the Montana Legislature has lost it (I don’t want to make clinical assessments about persons I haven’t evaluated personally); whether or not you believe some of the tripe that is being considered for legislation (I know- paranoia is hard to ignore); whether or not you are a believer in term-limits (where are the ~~statesmen~~ statespersons who are concerned for the long-term health and well-being of Montana, and not just for the spasmodic pushing through of personal, unscientific and socially ignorant positions? Sorry, bad sentence structure- read again) and whether or not you are a reasonable human being who would rather they just all go away and not come back for another two years (I’m trying to be open to the process, but I’m losing patience fast); this Legislature is doing things that require the voice of reason to increase in volume.

To wit: Nutjob Bills In The Montana Legislature.

And etc.: Natural Disaster: Republican legislators wage war on Montana’s environmental laws.

And just in case you missed it, the poster child of the 2011 Montana Legislature.

There is a chance to make your voice heard. Get involved. Speak.

And if you want some company, go here.

Stand Up Against Discrimination!

Feb15 by D Gregory Smith

HB 516, which seeks to overturn the Missoula Ordinance and ban further ordinances of its kind, is coming up in the House Judiciary this Friday at 8 am. Also coming up that session will be HB 514, which seeks to add gender identity and sexual orientation to the Montana Human Rights Act.

Let’s show the legislators how important equality is to Montanans.

For those of you in Missoula, there will be carpooling to Helena. Meet at the Eastgate Parking Lot at 6 am.

Facebook page here.

Spread the word- PFLAG chapters, parents, siblings, children, allies, come together!

Bill Would Prohibit All Local Non-Discrimination Ordinances

Feb11 by D Gregory Smith

Protect Local Anti-Discrimination Ordinances!

Rep. Kristin Hansen (R-Havre) has requested a bill to repeal the Missoula Nondiscrimination Ordinance that so many worked so hard to pass last spring. The ordinance protects Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Transgender (LGBT) people from discrimination in the areas of housing, employment, and public accommodations. Rep. Hansen’s bill doesn’t stop with Missoula. It would prohibit any locality from passing an ordinance, resolution, or policy that protects a class of people beyond what the Montana Human Rights Act already covers! And it’s retroactive, which calls into question any personnel policy or resolution that a locality has already passed. Click here to read the bill.

We need you to contact Rep. Hansen TODAY at krishansen33@gmail.com

and ask her not to introduce LC1865! We are hoping that if she hears from enough Montanans by Monday, that she will drop this egregious effort. Please take a minute to email Rep. Hansen! This bill would prevent any Montana city from protecting LGBT people in the future. It is really important that Rep. Hansen hear from people all over the state!

Here are a few talking points for your message:

After Montana has failed to protect LGBT Montanans at the state level for decades, localities have decided to take the initiative and protect their own residents. This is the right of cities and counties across Montana. The state sets a minimum standard for protections against discrimination. Cities and Counties can expand protected classes.

LGBT Montanans deserve to live their lives and fully participate in their communities without fear of losing their jobs or housing because or their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.

It is the right of cities and towns to take care of their residents and protect them from discrimination. The state of Montana should be in the business of extending these protections to LGBT Montanans, not repealing these protections.

We also got notice that SB 276, to repeal the unconstitutional language that criminalizes consentual, same sex sexual conduct has been set for a hearing on Tuesday, Februrary 15th in the Senate Judiciary Committee at 9:00 AM. Sen. Facey (D-Missoula) is carrying this legislation. Please email the committee and show your support by clicking here. Or you can attend the hearing and show your support in person!

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,

Kim

Kim Abbott

Montana Human Rights Network

Join Today! Become a Member of the Montana Human Rights Network or make a donation at www.mhrn.org

HIV-specific Criminal Laws Popping Up Across Nation

Feb10 by D Gregory Smith

From The Michigan Messenger:

In opposition to President Barack Obama’s Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), HIV-specific criminal law legislation has popped up in three states in the last two months.

Nebraska is considering a medically unsound piece of legislation making it a crime for HIV+ persons to expose law enforcement officials to their body fluids, while in Utah, the legislature is considering a law that would make engaging in prostitution while HIV+ (either as sex worker or client) more easily punishable.

And of course, Montana gets a mention.

And finally, during a debate on keeping the death penalty in Montana, a state law maker said a perfect reason to keep the law in place was because prisoners were making paper darts which they dip their blood in and then shoot them at guards in the prison.

But you know all about that. Read the whole thing here.

An Evening With Dustin Lance Black

Feb10 by D Gregory Smith

I have to admit, I went in completely biased.

Like many of you, I watched the Academy Award acceptance speech with tears in my eyes.

“…if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he would want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, or by the government, or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value, and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon I promise you, you will have equal rights federally across this great nation of ours.”

Like I said, completely ~~smitten~~ biased.

But when he began talking about not settling for “close, but not there”, and not giving up on the vision of panoramic human rights, and overcoming the paralysis of fear- “put your pencil on the paper and start moving it- something has to happen”, I knew my predisposition toward this gentle, fiery soul was completely justified. He talked not so much about activism as the promotion of reality- the reality that LGBT people are everywhere, they just want to love and be loved, and they’re not going away. And he’s right. We aren’t.

Unless we give up.

I sat in a full Ballroom at Montana State university with students, teachers, parents, cowboys and a few kids. This was a crowd that could have been distributed down Main Street, Bozeman, and it wouldn’t have seemed different from the normal pedestrian traffic. People listened to this young man- whose story of a rural Mormon upbringing probably hit close to home to many in the audience, with rapt attention punctuated by laughter and enthusiastic applause. Here was a non-apologetic gay man standing in front of a group in a (generally) conservative state whose constitution explicitly prohibits him from full equality, and his story was received respectfully, even enthusiastically. His story and vision no different from my own.

I then had a realization.

It wasn’t new, it had been knocking on the back door of my brain for a while, but I was now able to hear it. It was this:

I had turned all these people into the bullies from my childhood and young adulthood. I had created an enemy/threat out of people who were probably neither. I was projecting. (The irony of my professional blind spot is not lost on me here) I had imposed my childhood fears on (almost) every Montanan- and I’m not a child. I had allowed this weird, unarticulated fear to hold me back.

I don’t want to do that anymore. So I’m going to pay attention to the injustice sensor whenever it goes off- not just when it’s safe. That was my gift from Dustin Lance Black.

Well, one of them.

He answered my question about religion’s scarring of some LGBT’s with “every religion has something important to say. Mine taught me love and respect of family. …but religion is not its leaders. I wouldn’t listen to the leaders all the time. And anger and hurt about religion didn’t keep me from being spiritual.” He talked with people afterward, meeting every one who waited to see him. Of course, I stood in line.

I got a hug, a brief chat about my crazy life story and was able to thank him for his availability and candor. He thanked me right back. Gracious. From the word grace, meaning “elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action”.

Elegant activism. I think I can do that.

Thanks, Lance.

When Was The Last Time A Christian’s House Was Burned Down?

Feb6 by D Gregory Smith

I know. Provocative question.

But I can’t help asking it when I see stories of deliberate arson evicting LGBT’s from the safety of their homes. I also ask the question (appropriately modified) when I see ant-queer graffiti, read about harassment and beatings involving people who are too much like me to make me feel beyond it.

This house, owned by a gay couple in Clayton, North Carolina was destroyed early Friday morning. The story is here.

There was a history of anti-gay messages, graffiti, harassment and vandalism before the blaze. The couple is not identified for “fear of their safety”. The neighbor who talked to the reporter also did so only anonymously. We are afraid.

And the Christianists call us a threat- among other nasty things.

So for the purposes of argument I will ask the following questions to those who believe equality only applies to white, heterosexual, cis-gendered, procreating, (&etc) Christians:

When was the last time a group of LGBTIQ persons beat up a straight person?
When did Graffiti with the word “Breeders” adorn the house of a straight family?
When did a gay terrorist group burn down a Christian house just because they were Christian?
When did an LGBT Pastor make the news for slandering and approving of violence against straights?
Etc, etc.

But the reverse? Happens all the time. And we take it. Mostly, we do.

Fucked, ain’t it?

And I can’t help but feeling if we don’t get our act together and start acting like a community instead of picking little fights all over the place, squabbling over minutiae that, in the final analysis makes little difference (check the comments section of any LGBT blog), it’s going to continue to get worse.

I am not advocating that we become terrorists, or engage in any similar behavior, only that we be radically truthful. Self-defensive, if you will.

I know. Go ahead. That’s what the comments section is for.

“Wiggling Around In Excrement”

Feb5 by D Gregory Smith

From Cowgirl:

Whoa! Remember the New Hampshire Legislator-turned-lobbyist that Rep. Greg Hinkle is barnstorming the state with to help stop seniors from making their own end-of-life decisions? Turns out she is a crazy homophobe, as is evident from this video. Montanans don’t want people prying into their personal lives and decisions, peeping through our windows, and rummaging through our trash.

Click for the video. It’s crazy. And please note, I made no heterophobic remarks about wiggling around in anything else….