IS THERE A MAN IN YOUR DAUGHTER'S BATHROOM?

KALAMAZOO SEXUAL ORIENTATION/GENDER IDENTITY ORDINANCE 1856

·         On December 1, 2008, the anti-discrimination ordinance was amended by the Kalamazoo City Commission by a 7-0 unanimous vote, to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”

·         After 1,600 signatures on petitions were filed December 31, the Commissioners withdrew the amended ordinance, only to pass a new amended ordinance on June 29 which will again became law in ten days.

·         On July 29, petitions with 2,100 signatures were filed.  The Commissioners voted this time put this referendum on the ballot for a vote in November, in Kalamazoo City. 

·         This ordinance creates no new protection except for homosexuals, transgender and cross-dressers.  It could, because of the term “orientation”, refer to those who practice one or more of the 30 “Orientations” originally defined by the American Psychiatric Association.  State and federal laws and the original city ordinance already protect the civil rights of all citizens, based on race, color, national origin, and sex. 

·         This ordinance is simply a form of discrimination against business owners, people of faith, and those who disagree with such behaviors.

·         The Commissioners, in the newly amended ordinance, REMOVED the bathroom exemption.  The ordinance’s unclear language regarding “gender identity” suggests that one could declare himself to be of the opposite sex and use facilities like restrooms, locker rooms, and showers, which have been reserved for single-sex use.  “Gender identity” makes it legal for anyone to declare himself to be any sex he chooses at any time.

·         There are cases where fear of backlash litigation has made it politically incorrect to make an appropriate distinction between the sexes. Alabama schools were recently forced to put boys and girls together in gym, health, and fitness classes.

·         This means, if this passes, that there could be a man using your daughter's school locker room, a woman in the men's room at McDonalds, or a man in the ladies' restroom at the public library, or in changing rooms, or showers in any Kalamazoo business.

·         Every business that contracts with the City of Kalamazoo must comply with the provisions of the ordinance or be liable for any costs or expenses incurred by the City in obtaining from other sources the work and services to be rendered or the goods to be furnished.

TALKING POINTS:

1.    Voters should vote NO to this discriminatory Ordinance 1856.

2.    Defeating the ordinance will stop potential violations of the privacy rights of women and children in public restrooms, locker rooms, and showers.

3.    Defeating the ordinance will protect the religious freedom of faith-based businesses.

4.    Ordinance 1856 violates the First Amendment rights of religion and free speech of those who oppose cross-dressing and homosexual behavior.