Allegheny County Ordinance- What I wrote
Got a phone call this morning as it seems what I wrote last evening about what’s wrong with the county ordinance has caused some stir. It appears that what I wrote was both true and not true. So hopefully I’m clarify this a bit. Â If I don’t clarify it enough, perhaps I’ll get another phone call.
It was true to say that the county ordinance allows religious organizations to discriminate based on gender, age, etc. However, these classes are protected under the state human relations commission, so a person would have a way to pursue a complaint if this was the case.
This is directly from the information published via email and on Facebook. I have bolded the text to which I was referring, but the non-bold issues are equally important:
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.
During my phone call, it was highlighted to me that there are 2 major concerns with the ordinance as it is right now:
- Religious organizations that receive county funding are entitled to discriminate under the way the ordinance is currently written.
- The amendment added makes a change only the second part of the ordinance (Section 215.31. “Definitions”) but does not change the first part (Section 215.30. “Purpose”)
Here is the wording of the the definitions section from the ordinance itself:
The following words, terms and phrases when used in this article shall be defined as follows, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
* * *
H.        Employer means any person who employs four (4) or more employees, exclusive of the parents, spouse or children of such person, including the County of Allegheny, its departments, boards, commissions and authorities, any other governmental agency within its jurisdiction, but excluding any religious, fraternal, charitable or sectarian organization which is not supported in whole or part by any County appropriations.
1.        For the purposes of this Article, the definition of “employer” shall not include any religious organization, regardless of number of employees or County funding, provided that such religious organization provides documentary evidence of its religious nature to the Human Relations Commission of the County of Allegheny, and avers in writing to the Commission that gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity constitute grounds for employment decisions under the fundamental tenets of the religion in question. Documentary evidence of an entity’s religious nature may consist of articles of incorporation, a charter or other foundational document for the entity, documentary evidence of tax-exempt status as a religious institution under §501 of the Internal Revenue Code or any other applicable Pennsylvania or federal law, or any other documentary evidence deemed sufficient by the Commission.
* * *
On the positive side of this, what is happening right now shows a level of cooperation and a unified effort by local, regional, and state-wide groups that often does not exist. The fact that Steel City Stonewall Democrats, The Delta Foundation, and Equality Advocates PA all issued the same public notice yesterday is an illustration of the level of cooperation we are seeing in this regard. Yet, I don’t know, maybe it was the fact that I started my blog post saying I was wondering what went wrong and that I was writing against the ordinance as it is currently worded. The forces that be are working extremely hard to get this legislation passed and bring Allegheny County  up to the level of protections that Pittsburgh and 13 other municipalities across the state have. Are we going to get there with a vote on Wednesday?
One reason I specifically commented on the ability to discriminate based on age, gender, etc that the current wording allows, grows from having listened to attorneys talk about how companies take advantage of the disparity of protections as they currently are. Building such disparity into this ordinance just seems like a bad idea to me. However, I trust the hard working folks  who are pushing forward on this ordinance.
But it may be easier for most people to wrap their heads around the first issue- that religious organizations may get county funding but are still able to discriminate against you. Â What do you think? ‘m all for protecting the rights on all sides of the issue. Religious liberty is as important as GLBTQ rights. But it is critical to look at where these intersect and how we the people, are impacted. If a religious organization wishes to discriminate against GLBTQ’s, that is fine with me, but it isn’t OK, that they can do it while receiving my money.
Support the various groups working so hard to get nondiscrimination protection, and be involved so that your best interests are being considered.
What can you do now?
Contact your County Council person and let them know that this amendment is a bad deal and should be stripped from the legislation before it passes. The Pittsburgh ordinance has worked fine for over 20 years- there is no reason to make these types of changes!
Contact:
County Executive Dan Onorato
Phone: (412) 350-6500 Fax: (412) 350-6512
executive@alleghenycounty.us
Your Council person.
http://eqfed.org/ct/A7S5cbE10412/
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)
