Gays, conservatives clash in Orlando over fair-housing law
By Jeff Kunerth
Orlando Sentinel
July 11, 2006
Gays and conservative Christians are expected to clash today when the Orange County Commission considers adding sexual orientation to its fair-housing ordinance.
It's not the first time the two sides have tangled, and it probably won't be the last as the Orlando area becomes both home to a number of conservative Christian organizations and a growing, increasingly visible gay community. When the two communities converge, the politics can be rough.
"They direct venom and hatred toward anybody who opposes them," said Mathew Staver, president of the Liberty Counsel, a national organization based in Central Florida that opposes gay rights.
Michael Slaymaker, a leader of the gay and lesbian Orlando Anti-Discrimination Ordinance Committee, counters that the meanness and hate coming from the conservative Christian groups only prove the need for protection of gays under the law: "Unfortunately for them, they prove our case."
The county's fair-housing-ordinance amendments, which will be debated by the County Commission during a public hearing today at 2 p.m., prohibits people selling or renting their property from discriminating against a person based on sexual orientation. The county defines sexual orientation as a person's "actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality or gender identity or expression."
The new ordinance also prohibits discrimination in housing based on disability and "familial status," which includes family size and pregnant women. The ordinance already prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin and sex.
When the Orlando City Council voted to add sexual orientation to its anti-discrimination ordinance in 2002, Slaymaker and Staver went head to head. The proposed Orange County change is narrower in scope than the Orlando ordinance, which banned discrimination in employment and housing within city limits. But the county, with 1 million people, is much larger and more conservative than Orlando.
In advance of today's public hearing, the gay community says it has been collecting cases of housing discrimination based on sexual orientation.
"We need this because discrimination, unfortunately, does exist," Slaymaker said. "We need it because it's time for Orange County to move forward on this."
The conservative groups are expected to argue that adding sexual orientation is unnecessary and affording gays and lesbians a protected status endorses homosexuality.
"There is no significant history or problem or issue with discrimination based upon sexuality in Orange County. To the contrary, this community is very tolerant and even accepting of gay and lesbian neighbors," said John Stemberger, president of the Orlando-based Florida Family Policy Council.
If it passes, Orange County would join four counties and 11 cities in Florida that bar housing discrimination against homosexuals. Nationwide, 11 states -- but not Florida -- and 145 cities and counties have fair-housing laws for gays, according to Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay civil-rights organization.
Both sides hope to avoid a repeat of the demeaning name-calling that characterized the Orlando ordinance debate. Each side accused the other of dehumanizing it -- conservatives called gays perverts; gays called conservatives Nazis. Leaders on both sides said the opposition refused to even shake their hands.
As adversaries, they both characterize themselves as the underdog.
"It's much more difficult to rally people to keep the status quo than to change it. In that way, they have a bit of an advantage," Staver said. "They are single-issue focused and that gives them a strategic advantage."
Jeff Kunerth can be reached at orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5392.
Orlando Sentinel
July 11, 2006
Gays and conservative Christians are expected to clash today when the Orange County Commission considers adding sexual orientation to its fair-housing ordinance.
It's not the first time the two sides have tangled, and it probably won't be the last as the Orlando area becomes both home to a number of conservative Christian organizations and a growing, increasingly visible gay community. When the two communities converge, the politics can be rough.
"They direct venom and hatred toward anybody who opposes them," said Mathew Staver, president of the Liberty Counsel, a national organization based in Central Florida that opposes gay rights.
Michael Slaymaker, a leader of the gay and lesbian Orlando Anti-Discrimination Ordinance Committee, counters that the meanness and hate coming from the conservative Christian groups only prove the need for protection of gays under the law: "Unfortunately for them, they prove our case."
The county's fair-housing-ordinance amendments, which will be debated by the County Commission during a public hearing today at 2 p.m., prohibits people selling or renting their property from discriminating against a person based on sexual orientation. The county defines sexual orientation as a person's "actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality or gender identity or expression."
The new ordinance also prohibits discrimination in housing based on disability and "familial status," which includes family size and pregnant women. The ordinance already prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin and sex.
When the Orlando City Council voted to add sexual orientation to its anti-discrimination ordinance in 2002, Slaymaker and Staver went head to head. The proposed Orange County change is narrower in scope than the Orlando ordinance, which banned discrimination in employment and housing within city limits. But the county, with 1 million people, is much larger and more conservative than Orlando.
In advance of today's public hearing, the gay community says it has been collecting cases of housing discrimination based on sexual orientation.
"We need this because discrimination, unfortunately, does exist," Slaymaker said. "We need it because it's time for Orange County to move forward on this."
The conservative groups are expected to argue that adding sexual orientation is unnecessary and affording gays and lesbians a protected status endorses homosexuality.
"There is no significant history or problem or issue with discrimination based upon sexuality in Orange County. To the contrary, this community is very tolerant and even accepting of gay and lesbian neighbors," said John Stemberger, president of the Orlando-based Florida Family Policy Council.
If it passes, Orange County would join four counties and 11 cities in Florida that bar housing discrimination against homosexuals. Nationwide, 11 states -- but not Florida -- and 145 cities and counties have fair-housing laws for gays, according to Lambda Legal, a New York-based gay civil-rights organization.
Both sides hope to avoid a repeat of the demeaning name-calling that characterized the Orlando ordinance debate. Each side accused the other of dehumanizing it -- conservatives called gays perverts; gays called conservatives Nazis. Leaders on both sides said the opposition refused to even shake their hands.
As adversaries, they both characterize themselves as the underdog.
"It's much more difficult to rally people to keep the status quo than to change it. In that way, they have a bit of an advantage," Staver said. "They are single-issue focused and that gives them a strategic advantage."
Jeff Kunerth can be reached at orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5392.
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