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The text below is from the Delta Foundation. I’d like to write some commentary, but first, I just wanted to get these facts out there for everyone to see.

CALL TO ACTION – ALLEGHENY COUNTY ORDINANCE

As many of you know, the Allegheny County Council will be voting on the Allegheny County Human Relations Ordinance this Wednesday, July 1. Council and the County Executive are expected to give it their final approval.

This process began at Pride 2008 with conversations between Councilperson Amanda Green and several community leaders. Throughout the year, community leaders have worked with Councilperson Green to shape the bill and many community members have voiced support for it.

The ordinance will establish a Human Relations Commission and prohibit most discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation based on many characteristics including sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. Similar protections have been in place in the City of Pittsburgh for over 20 years. Now most of those protections will be extended to the County borders.

The bill is not perfect. We have major concerns about an amendment (Section 215.31. “Definitions.” Sub-section H. Sub-paragraph 1) made to the bill in the Council’s Government Reform Committee (over the objections of Councilperson Green) on June 18. -This amendment allows religious organizations to discriminate, even if they receive County government funding. This is not allowed in the Pittsburgh ordinance and will make the protections of the Allegheny County Human Relations Ordinance weaker than the Pittsburgh ordinance.

-It allows for discrimination by religious organizations not only on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, but also on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, etc.

-The amendment sets up an inane and unconstitutional requirement that religious organizations document their homophobia and transphobia in order to be exempt from the ordinance. So, religious organizations that are BGLT friendly would have to comply with the ordinance while the homophobic organizations can discriminate against anybody for any reason.

-This amendment is potentially a harmful model for statewide non-discrimination legislation.

Some of us who are familiar with the legislation feel the amendment makes the entire bill not worth having for the reasons listed above. On the other hand, some of us feel that the protections the bill offers are substantial and that the bill is at least a step in the right direction. And there is also the strong possibility of striking some of the problematic portions of the legislation in court.
Representatives from our working group are meeting with County Executive Onorato’s staff to try to get rid of as much of this bad language as possible prior to approval of the ordinance. Here is how you can help:

Contact:
County Executive Dan Onorato
Phone: (412) 350-6500 Fax: (412) 350-6512
executive@alleghenycounty.us

Your Council person.
http://www.alleghenycounty.us/council/members.aspx
Ask them to remove the language from the proposed Human Relations Ordinance that allows organizations that receive County funding to discriminate.

Attend the meeting on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 @ 5PM (but come early the room will be packed)
436 Grant Street
4th floor – Gold Room (room may be changed to accommodate large numbers)
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
If you wish, you may speak at the meeting on Wednesday. (You must call ahead and put your name on a list to speak – 412.350.6490)

Thank you for your interest and support!
Coalition for the Allegheny County Human Relations Ordinance