Last week, we told you about the touching letter that one of Christina Fallin's former friends wrote to Governor Mary Fallin. The letter, which was published on the Huffington Post, was written in response to Governor Fallin's decision to stop the Oklahoma National Guard from processing benefit requests for same-sex couples.
Well, it looks like Christina Fallin's former friend should now write a letter to the fine city of Enid. On Tuesday, the city council of Oklahoma's wheat hamlet voted down an ordinance that would have protected municipal employees from discrimination due to their sexual orientation. Basically, it would have protected their jobs from bigoted assholes who cheer wildly when anti-discrimination policies are defeated in city council meetings.
From the Enid News Eagle:
A vigorous 25-second ovation followed the dismissal of an ordinance designed to include sexual orientation as a protected class when hiring municipal employees Tuesday.
A majority of four commissioners is needed to pass ordinances. Only three voted in support.
Ward 6 Commissioner David Vanhooser, citing the commission’s previous lengthy discussion of the ordinance in a meeting last month, successfully limited further debate and public comment from the packed commission chamber.
The ordinance was significantly altered since the last meeting. Ward 3 Commissioner Ben Ezzell worked with City Attorney Andrea Chism to clarify the original language, which Ezzell said was outdated and confusing.
“The effect of the ordinance is really the same, but the language was simplified,” Ezzell said. “There was an outdated process, a pseudo-judicial process without any teeth that dated back to some point in the 1970s. It’s long, it’s convoluted, it’s confusing and it caused a lot of confusion in the community.”
The earlier version of the ordinance, introduced by Ezzell and Ward 5’s Tammy Wilson, caused some to believe the ordinance would have applied to virtually every employer within city limits.
“All we’re doing is saying that we don’t discriminate for city of Enid employment. That we recognize the classes protected by state and federal law,” Ezzell said. “And, as far as employment protection goes for city of Enid workers, we also recognize sexual orientation.”
The previous ordinance also included gender identity as a protected class, but this was stripped from the presentation.
Ezzell and Wilson were joined by Ward 1 Commissioner Ron Janzen in support of the ordinance. Voting against were Vanhooser, Mayor Bill Shewey, Ward 2 Commissioner Mike Stuber and Ward 4 Commissioner Rodney Timm.
After the meeting, Shewey declined to comment further on his opposition to the ordinance, saying the vote speaks for itself. Vanhooser said the outcome was a reflection of what the community wants. Both officials were absent from the meeting two weeks ago when commissioners tabled the ordinance.
Kudos to the Enid City Council for doing the right thing. Obviously when a room full of farmers gives "a vigorous 25-second ovation" to an ordinance designed to protect a small minority from the prejudice of the majority, that ordinance isn't needed at all. And if you're gay and don't like the decision, suck it like a bad Cher album. It's a free country. Just like all those African-Americans who didn't agree with Jim Crow laws, you could always move somewhere else where people will tolerate your sick lifestyle that goes against the teachings of a 2,000 year old book.
Oops, it happened again. I accidentally turned into a Derplahoman and decided to dislike a certain demographic of people because they are different than me. In all honestly, it's actually kind of fun to look at the world through their eyes. Did you know they see everything in infrared like the Predator? That probably explains why a) they like guns so much, and b) only include white people in Chamber of Commerce videos:
