In Brief

Staff Reports

Gays Compared To Paedophiles, Necrophiliacs At Georgia State House Hearing

ATLANTA, GEORGIA -- The Georgia House Judiciary subcommittee tabled a House Bill 630 that would provide workplace protections to all state employees, including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender workers by a 3-2 vote on Tuesday. The sponsor of the bill, Democratic State Representative Karla Drenner, said after the committee's vote: "Tabling it is not as not as bad as beating it. But tabling it means they killed it."

The Georgia Voice reported that Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality- which has been lobbying heavily for the bill- said it is too soon to say the bill is dead.

"The bill is very much still alive," said Graham, who was among several supporters of the bill who testified at the hearing. "We had as conservative a group as we could have had and they voted to table and not end it."

In 2010, the state passed an anti-bullying bill after it was first tabled, Graham said. So, he said, Tuesday's action does not mean the end of HB 630. But it won't be easy to get it passed, he admitted. Georgia Equality is urging people to call their local legislators to lobby on behalf of the bill.

"It is going to be a huge challenge to get it through this year," he said.

During the course of testimony in support and in opposition to HB 630, one witness urged lawmakers to oppose the bill, saying that passage would increase the likelihood of increased paedophilia in Georgia's schools.

Tanya Ditty, state director for the anti-gay Concerned Women for America, testified saying:

"What's going to protect our children if a pedophiliac comes in and gets a teaching job, is a bus driver, is a custodian? And they could be people that just want to prey on children and they would be protected by this law," she said.

Ditty stated that "sexual orientations" included paedophilia, transsexuality, zoophilia and necrophilia and that "we do not believe the government should have a special protected minority class."

Georgia Equality's Graham said "he hoped people would better understand what Georgia faces at the General Assembly every day when working for LGBT equality" after listening to Ditty's comments.

"I think it certainly shows there is reasonable argument why this bill should pass.

It is up to the members of the committee and the legislature to do what is right or cave into the ridiculous fears of our opponents. Our opponents can't even make a reasonable argument against this. That's why they have to distort the facts and go as extreme as they do," he said.

WATCH DITTY'S TESTIMONY: 

Chicago Alderman Will Introduce Transgender Protection Measure

Chicago Alderman Moreno 

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- Chicago Alderman Proco Joe Moreno will “introduce an ordinance that establishes a transgender issues commission in the Chicago Police Department as well as set guidelines for police to follow while handling transgender people.”
Moreno confirms on his Web site he plans to introduce the ordinance at the March City Council meeting. The ordinance would also set up guidelines for police to follow in interactions with transgender people. The Police Treatment of Transgender Individuals Ordinance would require officers to respect each person’s unique gender identity, and add gender identity to the definitions specified in Police Department policy, the Chicago Phoenix reported.
Alderman James Cappleman (46th), a supporter of the proposed ordinance, told the Phoenix even basic questions such as which restroom a transgender person will use are not settled right now.
A 2010 National Gay and Lesbian Task Force study revealed that nearly half of transgender respondents were uncomfortable seeking help from police, and about a fifth said they were harassed by police officers, the Phoenix reported. The study also found that 60 percent of transgender women of color reported being abused by police, and 20 percent said they were denied equal services, the Phoenix reported.
Moreno’s proposed ordinance comes just a few weeks after state Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) introduced a bill that would add gender identity to the Illinois hate crime law. Cassidy’s proposed bill would also add military status and immigration status.