by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Equality for every individual.
Jacksonville’s municipal code does not allow discrimination “on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap, familial status or marital status when dealing with fair housing, employment or public accommodations.”
The watchdog of this legislation, the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission (JHRC), is discussing how to add sexual orientation to this list to make it illegal to discriminate against individuals because they are gay, bisexual, lesbian or transgender.
“I believe this council wants to do the right thing,” said Charlene Taylor Hill, JHRC executive director. “But we have to be thoughtful of the process we have to go through.”
That process began about a year ago when the JHRC agreed to research the issue.
“About two years ago (the commission) identified this as an emerging issue that needed to be addressed,” said Commission Chair Cynthia Watson.
Some of the commissioners were confused as to why it has taken so long for the research to get started.
“What has been the hang up?” asked Peter Goplerud, commissioner.
Moving forward has been difficult for the group, which consists of 20 commissioners appointed by the mayor. It meets once a month and due to scheduling conflicts, it took a few months to get an appointment with Mayor John Peyton to get his opinion on the proposed equal rights changes.
“We wanted to get the temperature of the issue before proceeding,” said Dennis Wade, commissioner and member of the research committee. “So we decided to wait until after the meeting with the mayor to pursue the changes.”
During the meeting with commissioners from the JHRC, the mayor felt the issue deserved more study, according to Misty Skipper, press secretary for Peyton. The mayor told the group that if they still felt the changes were necessary after completing its research that it should embark on a holistic public education campaign to explain why it is important and how it has been implemented in other communities.
The JHRC meeting Tuesday reaffirmed the mayor’s suggestion as commissioners spent most of the meeting trying to figure out if the research was necessary.
“What we need to do is state our objective, that all people should have fair access,” said commissioner Nate Scott. “Look at (these changes) as more preventative, so it doesn’t happen.”
Others believe the research would reveal whether or not the changes were necessary.
Commissioner Christopher Hazelip said, “He (the mayor) suggested we find out if there is, in fact, discrimination taking place. Then we can determine a strategy to affect change.”
The commission agreed to develop a request for proposal so it could receive bids from companies to develop a survey to find out if discrimination of this type is occurring in Jacksonville.
“The challenge to you all is to join the research committee or just stay tuned in,” said Watson, “because this is going to be a big undertaking.”
• Complaints regarding discrimination in the areas of equal employment, public accommodations or fair housing may be filed at the JHRC office in City Hall Suite 350, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Contact the office at 630-4911 or www.coj.net.