Wednesday August 4, 2010
South Bend Council Tables Homosexualist Ordinance
By James Tillman
SOUTH BEND, Indiana, August 3, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) — After hours of heated debate before a standing-room only crowd of about 200 people, the South Bend Common Council voted 5-4 late on July 26 to table a proposed ordinance that could have forced employers to hire homosexuals.
Advocates of the bill said that it simply extended existing laws against discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
Former Governor Joe Kernan, a former mayor of South Bend, said that the failure to adopt “gay rights” would hurt the city’s image and send the message that South Bend is intolerant.
But Citizens for Community Values (CCV) Advisory Board Member Fred Everett read a statement by Bishop Kevin Rhodes that the “ordinance is more about validating behavior than it is about protecting rights.”
“With this ordinance, homosexual activity is being given special rights and protections–special rights simply on the basis of sexual orientation,” Rhodes stated.
“There is a false proposition here that ‘what we do is who we are,'” said Patrick Mangan, executive director of CVV of Indiana, addressing the argument that voting against the bill meant that one hated gay people. “And that if we reject a person’s bad behavior, we are rejecting them as a person.”
“It is absolutely right that we reject bad behavior but love the person and help them overcome and get free from the bad behavior,” he continued. “That is precisely how we love our children!”
Swing vote Karen White said that the language was too vague. She says she has not decided if she will support the proposal if it comes for a vote again.
Mangan said he deemed the night a success.
“I have a good feeling because enough of the facts are coming out that a majority of people on the council would have voted against it tonight,” he said. “The language doesn’t exist to solve this. You can’t add in behavior-based practices [to discrimination ordinances] without undermining [employer’s] constitutional rights to freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and freedom of expression.”
Oliver Davis, however, said that he had not given up.
“If it’s got to go to extra innings to have a win, it’s got to go to 13 innings. If that’s what it takes, I’m fine with 13 innings,” he said.
The bill has been tabled indefinitely, but may be brought back for further discussion and a vote after it is amended.