The 50 Spot: Gainesville Votes on Anti-Discrimination Measure

by Michael Jones · 2009-03-24 06:32:00 UTC
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GainesvilleToday's 50 spot gets dedicated entirely to the state of Florida, where citizens in Gainesville are going to vote for the first LGBT rights ballot issue of 2009. The issue at hand is whether Gainesville will vote to keep an anti-discrimination ordinance that includes protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It's that gender identity part that has rightwing opponents up in arms.

The ballot measure is known as Amendment 1, and if it passes today, the city of Gainesville will strip its LGBT citizens of any anti-discrimination protections, and the reverberations of that could impact the entire state. Earlier this year, we hosted "Five Questions" with Robert Prather of "Equality is Gainesville's Business," and he spelled out just how bad Amendment 1 is. According to Prather, Amendment 1 "would basically legalize discrimination in Gainesville based on sexual orientation and gender identity for employment, credit, public accommodation, and housing."

Folks from the ACLU, the University of Florida (which is located in Gainesville), Equality Florida and others have been working hard to beat back this bill, running phone banks, canvassing, and holding public events to lay out how damaging Amendment 1 is to both the rights of Gainesville as a city to govern itself, but also for the larger struggle of civil rights.

Proponents of Amendment 1 have used the tired and misleading trick of saying that Gainesville's anti-discrimination protections will allow sexual predators to roam free in women's restrooms. That's nothing more than a campaign of deception and spin. There has never once been any incidence at a public restroom because of an anti-discrimination ordinance that offers protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Proponents of Amendment 1 are grasping at straws, and trying to spread fear.

Check out the You Tube clip below on why Gainesville should reject Amendment 1. (BTW, we're thrilled that this commercial, and others like it, actually feature LGBT people. A lesson learned from California, perhaps?) And for more information, check out Equality is Gainesville's Business or Equality Florida. Today's vote will either start 2009 off on the right foot when it comes to LGBT rights at the ballot box, or it will carry forward the legacy of Proposition 8 - that fear, lies and deception can win at the polls over basic human dignity.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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