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.

A community conversation with the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

2018 0329 PPCNCMR Benham KY stevepavey (40 of 43)On March 29, nearly a 150 people from across Kentucky and central Appalachia gathered in Harlan County for a community conversation with each other and with Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, as part of the national listening tour of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

Members host Georgetown Town Hall

On February 24 members in Scott County hosted a town hall for residents to ask the questions of their state legislators they were concerned about. The chapter invited all state legislators who represent part of Scott County to attend, with State Representatives Mark Hart and Phillip Pratt attending. 

NKY General Assembly Town Hall

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth is hosting a town hall around the issues in the Kentucky General Assembly. 

Scott County members participate in 16th Annual MLK March!

Marchers at the 16th Annual MLK March in Georgetown!

For the 16th straight year, the Georgetown-Scott County NAACP Unit celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a march and program commemorating the legacy and message of the late civil rights leader. In the current environment that we are in, with growing income inequality, elected leaders playing to racial and religious differences, and a struggle to define what it means to be American, it was an important day to stand together.

Progressive voices join to win Fairness ordinance in Paducah

In a historic win for Fairness in western Kentucky, Paducah has become the ninth city in Kentucky to adopt an anti-discrimination ordinance that protects LGBTQ+ people.

On January 9, more than 250 people packed the Paducah City Hall chambers, about two-thirds of the crowd showing support. After lengthy public testimony and debate, the measure passed by a 4 to 1 vote.

The ordinance prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. An amendment to include exemptions for religious business owners failed by a similar 4 to 1 vote. Such an exemption exists in state law, however.

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