Karen Goldner

A black eye has been given to the city of Fort Wayne, IN in the form of homophobia.  While the Republican members of the City Council may disagree with that statement, I can logically find no other reasoning behind their decision.  Perhaps if they had at least allowed the bill into the discussion phase, I might parse my statement and make the proper revisions.  But no, the Republicans voted along party lines to – in the words of the IMF phantom voice – disavow all knowledge of the contents of the bill.

The bill, which was introduced by my friend and City Council member, Karen Goldner, would have added gender identity and sexual orientation into the same protected class as race, religion and others, which would allow the city of Fort Wayne to investigate claims of discrimination.

Karen tried to introduce a similar bill last month, but other council members suggested she make a few changes to make the bill more viable for introduction.

A lot of good that did.  Republican council members, Tom Smith, Tom Didier, Mitch Harper, Liz Brown, and Marty Bender voted against allowing the bill to even be introduced for discussion.  Voting to allow the bill were Democrats Goldner, Tim Pape, Glynn Hines, and John Shoaff.

Karen believed if council members had any questions about the bill, they could have at least allowed it to be introduced for discussion.  The blanket condemnation of the bill had to be a major frustration for Karen.  After the vote she said, “The lack of willingness to have that discussion literally takes my breath away and disappoints me deeply.”

In recent years, Republicans around the country have done their best to demonize the LGBT community – and in some cases, it has caused some embarrassment when some of the staunchest anti-gay crusaders have been caught with their pants down – literally!

Just a few examples:

• MARK FOLEY
  • A US Congressman representing Florida’s 16th District.
  • One of the foremost opponents of child pornography in the Senate.
  • He was discovered to have been sending lewd and sexually suggestive emails to male pages in the Senate for more than ten years.
• TED HAGGARD
  • Leader of the National Association of Evangelicals.
  • He taught that homosexuality was an abomination and actively lobbied against gay rights.
  • He was caught paying male prostitutes for sex and snorting crystal meth.
• LARRY CRAIG
  • A US Senator representing the State of Idaho
  • Craig twice voted against adding the words “sexual orientation” to the federal hate crimes law. Craig also voted to give states the right to refuse to recognize gay marriage.
  • Caught soliciting sex from an undercover cop in a men’s room at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
• BOB ALLEN
  • Member of the Florida House of Representatives.
  • Allen was one of 21 Florida legislators to sign Gov. Jeb Bush’s friend-of-the-court brief supporting the state’s ban on gays adopting children, and he co-sponsored an unsuccessful bill that would have enhanced penalties for “offenses involving unnatural and lascivious acts” such as indecent exposure.
  • He was arrested for offering an undercover cop $20 to perform fellatio on him in the men’s room of a public park.
• ROY ASHBURN
  • California State Senator
  • He voted against every gay rights measure in the State Senate since taking office.
  • He was pulled over for drunk driving after leaving a Sacramento Gay Nightclub.  He later admitted to being gay.

Wow, what a shame it would be if one of our local Republican City Council members were caught in a similar manner.