Civil Rights for Gays and Lesbians: “The Moral Barometer of Our Time”
The
following piece by Dave Leshtz, Chair of the Iowa Civil Rights
Commission, was a guest opinion in Saturday's Cedar Rapids
Gazette.
I have three grown daughters. When they were kids, their best baby-sitters were gays and lesbians.
These
gay and lesbian baby-sitters – friends who were born and raised in Iowa
– were the most nurturing, most competent, and most trustworthy of
anyone who looked after my daughters. All three daughters are now
healthy, successful adults with families of their own. All of
them have maintained close ties with those baby-sitting friends.
None of them would hesitate to entrust any of their four children to
the care and attention of gays or lesbians.
So I
have a personal agenda that matches my role as an Iowa Civil Rights
Commissioner. I do not want to see good people suffer simply
because of their sexual orientation. I do not want the pain of
discrimination to be felt by any Iowan. I do not want children to
be punished because of their parents' sexual orientation.
Hundreds
of children in Iowa are being raised right now by loving, capable
parents who happen to be of the same sex. By depriving gay and
lesbian couples of the social and financial benefits and rights that
non-gays and lesbians have been granted, we penalize their children,
too. Policymakers and elected officials who are truly pro-family
should encourage stability and security for all of our children.
The
great civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, who organized the March on
Washington in 1963, said that civil rights for gays and lesbians has
become the moral barometer of our time. We are seeing some of the
same kinds of resistance to gay and lesbian civil rights as we saw to
civil rights for black Americans. Change will eventually come, no
matter how much resistance, no matter how much fear, no matter how much
bigotry remains. National polls consistently show a clear
trajectory: younger people – like my daughters – have far less
discriminatory attitudes than their parents' and grandparents'
generations. These younger people will soon become our legislators, our
policymakers, and our judges.
Nineteen
states ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. Iowa is
not one of them. However, six Iowa cities – Ames, Bettendorf,
Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Des Moines, & Iowa City – and numerous
school boards, colleges, and businesses have adopted non-discrimination
language in their employment policies and local ordinances. The
city of Clinton includes sexual orientation in its affirmative action
policy, and last year the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors voted to
add sexual orientation to its discrimination policy.
Civil
rights for gays and lesbians is an economic issue as well as a moral
one. All of those baby-sitting friends of my family have moved
away from Iowa. They live in Chicago, California, and Minnesota,
where they are responsible taxpayers and useful members of their
communities. Why would the state of Iowa want to discourage
productive citizens from living and working here? If we are to
revive our economic base, we need to ensure a vibrant and diverse
workforce. Promoting discriminatory amendments to the
Constitution tells prospective employers and employees that Iowa is a
land of intolerance.
Let's listen to companies like Wells Fargo
and Principal. They understand that Iowa's fiscal future depends
on being inclusive, fair, and non-discriminatory.
In each
of the last four years, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has formally
recommended to the Iowa Legislature that sexual orientation be added to
the list of protected classes in the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
Now more than ever, expanding the law is in Iowa’s self-interest.
Let’s proclaim loudly and clearly that we won’t allow anyone in our
state to be treated as a second-class citizen.
And
let's thank those forty-four members of the Iowa House – including
Republicans Jeff Elgin, Doug Struyck, and Chuck Gipp – for their
principled votes against a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex
marriage rights (Des Moines Register, March 15). Regardless of their
feelings about marriage, they refused to go along with a mean-spirited,
divisive, and costly diversion.
Action: Contact
your legislator to let them know you want sexual orientation added to
state law.
Click here to receive action alerts from Rapid Response – Iowa
your legislator to let them know you want sexual orientation added to
state law.
Click here to receive action alerts from Rapid Response – Iowa
Blog For Iowa 
Having recently moved to Indianola from Los Angeles, my partner & I are glad to see that there is some support for us, especially from the straight community. We've got a long way to go here, but it's been good to see that many Iowans are as tolerant and potentially progressive as we thought.
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Welcome to Iowa! Please feel free to contact me at blog@democracyforiowa.com if you need some contacts.
Linda
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