Who we are and what we believe

by Don Wheeler

In the summer of 2006 an amendment to South Bend’s Human Rights Ordinance was introduced in the South Bend Common Council. The concept of the original HRO was to protect citizens from discrimination in housing, the workplace, etc., but a clear gap in that protection had been identified. It was pointed out that there was no protection for citizens on the basis of sexual orientation, preference or gender identity – real or perceived.

Like many people, I read about this with only passing interest. It seemed clear there was a problem, a clear solution had been proposed…it seemed to be mostly just a housekeeping type issue.

Imagine my astonishment when the amendment failed by one vote.

I had paid scant attention to the opposition’s rhetoric – the claims were factually incorrect and the concerns seemed clearly based upon fear and dislike of people different than themselves. It seemed unnecessary to point out the irrationality.

I should have known better… because these arguments have a familiar ring to them.

I grew up in Evanston, Illinois and in the late 1960’s, it was a common practice that realtors did not show homes in certain neighborhoods to people of color. By city ordinance (at any rate) this was not illegal. But it came to pass that many people in the community loathed the practice and dedicated themselves to ending it. My mother was one of those people.

She and I marched on several occasions, over many weeks, holding signs, chanting and singing for several miles each time. Each time we would rally at an African American church at the beginning and another at the end. For a boy approaching his teen years, it was quite an experience.

The rhetoric in opposition to our cause was typical of any case where certain people wish to retain institutionalized discrimination. Phrases like “we know what’s best for these folks”, and “it would be giving these folks special status, special rights” are merely code for a desire to dominate and oppress and - let’s face it – they’re inspired by hatred and fear.

So when I hear people say things like offering people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered equal protection under the law amounts to “special rights”, I am not fooled. I’ve heard this stuff before.

And I’m always given more confidence that I am on the right side of an issue when my opponent’s arguments strengthen my argument. In the case of the amendment to the Human Rights Ordinance, one claim you hear a lot is that people of the GLBT community are merely exercising a lifestyle choice – and that it’s wrong to protect a choice by law. Of course, that lifestyle myth was pretty much exploded a couple of decades ago, but let’s skip past that for the moment. If we accept their premise, then we should also remove protections based upon religion - for that is a fundamental choice for most people. I doubt anyone would seriously propose that.

No, it’s important to realize that this is not really about the GLBT community. What it is about…is us as a community. We know not all of our citizens are protected equally. What matters is what we do about it. And make no mistake, if we do nothing we are very much doing something. We are saying that in South Bend, Indiana, if enough people are uncomfortable with some other people, it’s OK to discriminate against those other people. We have the power to do that, and actually – as of now – we are doing that.

Well I think we need to stop doing that and I hope you do too. And if you’re anything like me, you may recall the powerful words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who said: “There comes a time for all us, when silence is a betrayal”.

I think of those words frequently these days. Democracy is not a spectator sport.