Human Rights shouldn’t be decided by alternative facts

On March 15, I attended an open forum hosted by Friends of the Fairmont Human Rights Commission. I came away with a lot of good information wrapped around one over-arching thought: People will be asked to vote on this issue next fall, and before they do, it would be nice if they knew what was true.

I’ll get to that shortly, but first, a brief history:

The ordinance at issue was passed by City Council last September on a 7-2 vote. It intends to repeal and replace a previous ordinance that dates back to 1978. The amended ordinance states that the City of Fairmont will “safeguard the right and opportunity of all persons to be free from all forms of discrimination, whether as a result of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, blindness or handicap, and to provide for an inclusive community for all residents, businesses and visitors.”

Denial of these rights, the ordinance says, “is contrary to the principles of freedom and equality of opportunity and is destructive to a free and democratic society.”

Prior to its passage, the ordinance was challenged by an out-of-town religious organization that objects to the inclusion of gays and transgender individuals in the list of protected groups. They attempted to sway City Council to defeat the ordinance with some dubious claims and accusations and when that failed, they launched a successful petition drive to put the issue on the ballot for the November mid-term election.

That’s where the issue currently stands, with both sides no doubt gearing up their campaigns before people actually go to the polls.

Now it’s not my job – or my intention – to tell people how to vote when Election Day rolls around because I know people are likely to vote their conscience regardless of anything I do or say. I do, however, believe that people should know the truth before casting a ballot on an issue of this magnitude. After all, it was 62 million votes based on lies, fiction, fantasy and deceit that put Donald Trump in the White House in 2016. How’s that been working out so far?

So here are a few facts:

(1) While the amended ordinance recognizes the right of its various protected groups to fair and equal treatment, it does not contain an enforcement clause. In other words, the Human Rights Commission is asking all Fairmont citizens to treat each other fairly and honestly, but by itself cannot compel anyone to do so.

(2) In cases where discrimination is suspected or alleged, there are other avenues that individuals can take to pursue a remedy, and in that context, the commission can make referrals to those organizations, but it does not have the power to take any legal action on its own.

(3) The primary objectives of the commission are to bring the issues of freedom and fairness to the public’s attention through educational programs and other opportunities to distribute information, to promote harmony throughout the community, to promote equal rights, to study discrimination as it exists in the area and to make recommendations to City Council on issues relative to human rights.

“Times have changed since 1978,” says the Rev. D. D. Meighen, one of the major backers of the new rights commission. He said supporters felt that the previous ordinance needed dusted off, amended and replaced to keep up with the broadening issues of the day. In November, if the amended version stands up to voter scrutiny (a “no” vote for repeal will keep the new one in place) it will go into effect as Council intended. If voters say “yes” to repeal, the city will revert back to the 1978 ordinance which, by the way, does include well-defined powers of enforcement. Ironic, wouldn’t you say? 

It has been fairly well documented that many of the people who distributed petitions against the amended ordinance didn’t fully understand what they were opposing, and even some of the most vocal critics had to admit to news reporters that they didn’t even read the new proposal before organizing against it.

I’ve stated here before that I can think of only one reason why anyone would knowingly oppose freedom and equality for everyone, and bigotry is a pretty ugly word. If this is the reason why some people signed the petition, then I have no answer for them, but if they oppose this ordinance because of a misunderstanding, I hope they will become educated between now and November and vote based on the real and not the alternative facts.

“The importance of a HRC has been shared by many community and business leaders whose businesses constitute most of the business force of Marion County,” Meighen says. “In order to understand our future, we must know our past. The HRC will provide the history, show the culture and develop the programs to allow us to move forward.”

I know the Friends of Human Rights will be out delivering this message from now until Election Day. I plan to do that, too, and I hope a lot of people will be listening.