LGBTQ equality | Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

LGBTQ equality

Bereans for Fairness rally

Meta Mendel-Reyes"When I first came to Kentucky, my employer did not have domestic partner benefits, and we  couldn't pay all our medical bills. As a lesbian/member of the LGBTQ community, I am proud to belong to an organization that fights for equality for all Kentuckians."

Meta Mendel-Reyes
Madison County

Resources

Fairness Campaign

Kentucky Fairness Alliance

Kentucky ACLU

Kentucky Commission on Human Rights

Lexington Fairness

Eastern Kentucky Fairness on Facebook

Bereans For Fairness on Facebook

Sample of a local Fairness Ordinance

As KFTC has grown, expanding our vision of equality for all Kentuckians has been a labor of love and a transformative internal process. While many members shared this vision of equality for decades, in 2004 our Steering Committee shared a series of deeply emotional conversations, meetings, and personal reflections and eventually adopted language to our platform to include our LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Queer or Questioning) communities. Since then (and well before), our local chapters and statewide members have contributed to a growing movement for fairness, safety and celebration of diversity in Kentucky and beyond.

From offering our staff domestic partner benefits to lobbying our elected officials for fairness ordinances and anti-bullying legislation, KFTC members continue to prioritize our vision for a better Kentucky all Kentuckians deserve. As you can read in our blog feed below, our local chapters have recently prioritized LGBTQ equality through Fairness Ordinance organizing in Berea, safe restroom campaign in central Kentucky, creating LGBTQ support networks in Perry County, and much more.

What is a Fairness Ordinance:  A Fairness Ordinance would prohibit discrimination in the workplace, housing, and public accommodations based on sexual orientation or gender identity. We believe that all Kentuckians have a right to live without fear of unjust discrimination, regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity. As written, Kentucky law does not guarantee this right, and must be changed. We support a statewide Fairness law and also Fairness ordinances at a local level until a statewide law is establish.

ACLU Bill of Rights Dinner

Keynote Speaker: James Esseks, counsel in DOMA case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Tickets required.

Uphold the Veto of HB 279!

Responding to overwhelming public opposition, on Friday Gov. Steve Beshear vetoed House Bill 279.

The bill drew opposition from the state’s own Human Rights Commission, mayors of Covington, Louisville and Lexington, dozens of organizations including KFTC, and some religious leaders and faith communities.

Protect our civil rights laws

A bill that allows any individual to “act or refuse to act on religious grounds” has passed the House and Senate and was vetoed by Gov. Steve Beshear. House Bill 279 is written so broadly that it could be used to subvert existing civil rights laws in Kentucky that protect individuals from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations.

Organizing for Fairness at Georgetown College

64212_10151350661874361_1135509954_nThe Scott County Chapter recently has acted in support of a new group at Georgetown College that seeks to persuade the College to expand non-discrimination protections to include such things as sexual orientation.

Georgetown College is a historically Baptist institution that traces its roots back to 1787, claiming as one its forebears Elijah Craig, the Kentucky Baptist preacher and Bourbon maker.  Long a stronghold moderate Baptist thinking, the College adopted a formal policy prohibiting discrimination against gay students in 2008, College officials shy away from public acknowledgment of these policies.  The College refused to formally sponsor a gay/student group until 2011, when gay students on campus boldly came out in the College newspaper and made the campus aware of the bullying and harassment to which they were at times subjected.  Even then, the College insisted that the name of the group (Campus Spectrum) should not directly suggest anything about its mission, which is to welcome and support all students, regardless of sexual orientation.

Fairness, new energy, membership and fundraising keep Shelby members busy

On new energy, fairness, and fundraising and membership, KFTC Shelby County members are taking actions to move the chapter's goals forward.

  • New Energy: Carlen Pippen is working closely with the Public Service Commission on pushing Shelby Energy toward transparency. He also met with local Rep. Brad Montell regarding Shelby Energy's proxy voting policy, which Rep. Montell – a member of Shelby Energy himself – deplored as undemocratic and promised to help work to overturn.

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