Melissa Ross
In the wake of last night’s defeat of an anti-discrimination ordinance in Houston, activists with the Jacksonville Coalition for Equality say they’re going to work overtime to educate the public – and prepare to do battle against any potential scare tactics that could be mounted to defeat an expanded HRO in Duval County.
Prop. 1, known as Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance, (HERO) would have barred discrimination on the basis of race, age, military status, disability and 11 other categories in a variety of areas, including sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. Those last categories are still not included in Jacksonville’s human rights ordinance, an item of contention among North Florida LGBT activists.
Prop 1 opponents came out against what they dubbed the “bathroom ordinance,” arguing that passage could lead to male sexual predators dressing up as women and entering women’s restrooms.
Proponents of an expanded HRO in Jax say such fears are unfounded.
FloridaPolitics.com spoke with Cam, a transgender activist and co-chair of the Jacksonville Coalition for Equality Gender Identity and Expression subcommittee. Cam – who asked not to use his last name – says more education and public awareness is needed on the topic.
“One of the things that we’ve found is that in the states and cities that do have these ordinances, there hasn’t been an increase in bathroom-related incidents,” Waller said.
“Everyone wants to go to the bathroom and be safe. We want the exact same thing. We don’t want anybody to be threatened when they use the restrooms. The importance of HROs is they protect everybody. They do not allow people to go in and assault anybody. We want everybody to feel like they have a safe place where they can go and use the bathroom, including transgender people.”
“The tactics used in Houston were unfortunate. There’s a lot of misinformation and fear. This is what happens when you put the rights of the minority up to a public vote,” added the JCE’s Jimmy Midyette during an appearance on WJCT’s “First Coast Connect.”
The coalition and other groups will have their say on expanding the city’s HRO during a series of upcoming community conversations around the issues of human rights and equality set by Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry.
