Montana City OKs GLBT Protections

Montana's second-largest city has approved an ordinance that bans discrimination based on real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. The ordinance applies to the housing market and also protects GLBTs from workplace discrimination.

The measure was approved by the city council 10-2, reported local newspaper The Missoulian on April 13.

The city council provided extra seats for the crowd that descended on the session, which was open to the public. The councilmembers all had the opportunity to speak and to explain their votes and the reasons why they voted as they did. The process took seven hours, with the measure fianlly being approved at nearly 2:00 a.m.

"Most of us can't remember civil rights in action. This is it for us. This is our lifetimes," Stacy Rye, one of the councilmemebrs who voted in favor, said.

"Hopefully our actions tonight will ripple through Montana from Libby to Billings, from Dillon to Wolf Point, and eventually to the capital in Helena," another proponent of the measure, Dave Strohmaier, said.

The hope expressed by Stohmaier is the very thing that others fear. A group claiming to be "an alliance of 17 organizations" opposed to the ordinance posted warnings at a website called NotMyBathroom.com that claimed that such an ordinance would lead to an increase in child molestation by gay men, Boy Scouts being forced to include girls in their troops, and men dressed as women using women's restrooms--and possibly raping women in the ladies' room.

Such arguments are familiar from groups in other states having used them to argue against gay political candidates and anti-discrimination measrues meant to protect GLBTs. Anti-gay leaflets distributed in Gainesville, Florida, warned voters that openly gay mayhoral candidate Craig Lowe supported "Gays in Women's Restooms" as well as "Gay Marriage."

In Maine, the question of transgendered individuals using restrooms in accordance with their gender identity--rather than their physiology--reportedly led anti-gay groups to launch an effort to repeal the state's entire human rights law. The argument of "biology based bathrooms" has become a rallying cry that sums up a cross-section of GLBT rights causes, from family parity and marriage equality to workplace protections for transmen and transwomen.

The anti-gay website dedicated to preventing the Missoula ordinance sounded many of the same chords, including a declaration that GLBTs should not be covered by anti-discrimination laws. Referring to the anti-discrimination measure as the "Peeping Tom Protection Ordinance," the site claimed that the measure could "force ministers to perform homosexual marriages."

Added the site, "This could also force the Boy Scouts of America to have homosexual Boy Scout leaders and force them to allow girls to be part of the troops--even though the US Supreme Court has ruled against these requirements. No one should assume that we think all homosexual men are child molesters, far from it," the text continued. "However the problem with molestation in the Catholic Church stemmed from the fact that homosexuals were allowed to be Priests. The Boy Scouts of America allowed homosexual men to be Scout Masters and had the same high incident of molestations. Since both organizations have stopped that practice the number of molestations has dropped considerably, to a fraction or what it was before. Homosexual men who want to molest boys will seek jobs where boys are readily available."

The text added, "The champions of the Homosexual Agenda in Montana, the Montana ACLU, have announced plans to take this ordinance all over our state," and went on to claim, "An inside source has indicated that the ACLU has plans in the future to use this law to challenge the Montana Marriage Amendment that requires a marriage be between one man and one woman. It makes sense that they would chose Missoula to do that with Liberal Judges built in and a Supreme Court that is activist in nature in supporting the gay agenda." Missoula is a university town of 60,000 people.

The issue brought a much larger number of bystanders and speakers then normal to the public meetings of the city council. IT also generated its share of drama and surprise; at one point, the daughter of NotMyBathroom.com's chairman publicly came out as a lesbian and told her father that, "Right now I am ashamed to call you my father."

Taryn Nash, daughter of Tei Nash, spoke out against the portrait her father had painted of GLBT people, saying, "You have gone too far. I will not sit back any more and be quiet. I love you because you are my dad, but I have lost respect for you." Though Tei Nash had reportedly left the meeting before his daughter spoke up, she framed her comments as an address to him, the Missoulian reported on April 12. "You need to realize this crusade you are on is wrong, and it affects me personally," added Taryn in comments that were broadcast on live TV. "Right now I am ashamed to call you my father."

The Missoulian also reported April 12 that the city council had planned for an extra large crowd, setting out far more than the usual 65 chairs. Members of the public were warned not to applaud or to bring signs into the room; outside, demonstrators carried placards.