The Anti-Gay Problem in Jacksonville, Florida

When you think about Jacksonville, Florida, what comes to mind? Perhaps the Jacksonville Jaguars, one of the small market teams in the National Football League. Maybe you think of the St. Johns River, one of the largest riverways in the southeast. Or maybe you think of Pat Boone, Limp Bizkit and Lynyrd Skynyrd, some of the more famous musical acts to break onto the national scene from the First Coast.

Of course, in recent years, you might have also been tempted to link Jacksonville with some rabidly crazy stuff. And on some level, Jacksonville only has its own politicians to blame. Take, for instance, City Councilman Clay Yarborough, who made national news earlier this year by suggesting that if gay marriage ever came to Jacksonville, the city would collapse like the Roman Empire.

"I would say that when I read Romans Chapter 1, I see striking resemblances between where Rome was just prior to its fall in comparison to where America is today," Yarborough said. "Rome did not fall from an outside attack, whether it was military or otherwise. It fell from within because it was morally bankrupt. And I believe we have been treading in that area for a while and the more that we do not embrace that which honors the Lord, we shouldn’t be surprised if the blessings do not continue on our land."

Yarborough then went on to add that gay marriage is "not good."

Of course, if you think Yarborough has some disdain for LGBT people, just get him started on Muslims. Earlier this year, Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton appointed University of North Florida professor Parvez Ahmed to Jacksonville's Human Rights Commission, which prompted Yarborough to question whether anyone of the Muslim faith should ever be allowed to hold public office in America.

“I would have to think about that. I would have to think about that," said Yarborough. Then he was asked if gay people should ever be allowed to hold public office, to which he responded, "I would prefer they did not."

Welcome to Jacksonville, LGBT folks. Oh, and did we mention that Jacksonville is also the largest city in the entire state of Florida without an ordinance that protects LGBT people from discrimination when it comes to jobs, housing, or access to accommodations?

That's the bad news. So what's the good news?

Well, the good news is that despite the fact that it's been beat up by councilmembers like Clay Yarborough, Jacksonville does have a Human Rights Commission that is hoping to change the city's reputation when it comes to diversity, acceptance and safety. The chair of Jacksonville's Human Rights Commission, Mike Wachholz, recently said that he hopes the Human Rights Commission can persuade Jacksonville's City Council to pass a resolution that would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity when it comes to housing, employment, or access to private businesses.

For Wachholz, it's an embarrassment that Jacksonville doesn't have a citywide measure addressing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. And while it may be difficult to push city council members like Clay Yarborough on this, Wachholz thinks that it's no less urgent for the city to act.

“For me, the political climate isn’t relevant,” he said. “Are we going to do the right thing and the decent thing?”

So let's help them. Send a message to all of Jacksonville's City Councilmembers, telling them that if they want to be a competitive city in Florida, and one that has a solid reputation when it comes to safety and acceptance, they can no longer be the largest city in the state without an anti-discrimination ordinance that includes protections on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Perhaps Parvez Ahmed put it best, once he finally got appointed to the Human Rights Commission. Ahmed, after his first meeting, said that Jacksonville wants to be known as a welcoming place.

“We all want to be a welcoming city where businesses can relocate,” Ahmed said. “That will be more and more important as we try to compete on a global scale.”

Step one? Pass an ordinance that adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the city's anti-discrimination policy.

Photo credit: Scubabix