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Home » News » Archives » City of Bloomington Human Rights Amendment Endorsed by ACLU of Illinois
City of Bloomington Human Rights Amendment Endorsed by ACLU of Illinois For Immediate Release October 23, 2002 CHICAGO - Citing an urgency for elected officials to extend "needed protection" for individuals and families victimized by discrimination in the City of Bloomington, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois today issued a statement of support endorsing an amendment to the City Code banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, finance, employment and public accommodations. The Bloomington City Council is scheduled to consider the amendment during their meeting on October 28, 2002. The statement notes that discrimination based upon sexual orientation is an accepted fact in many aspects of American life. �Some businesses openly fire gay employees, and lesbians and gay men are denied jobs, consumer credit, and access to housing, restaurants and other public accommodations,� according to the statement. As evidence of the need for the amendment, the ACLU of Illinois noted that the Bloomington City Council had � in recent months � heard testimony from a number of individuals and families who had been subjected to discrimination based upon sexual orientation in the City. The ACLU argued that these examples made a compelling case for passing the ordinance, noting that the City Council should act quickly to insure that this victims of insidious discrimination have a remedy. In the statement, the ACLU of Illinois specifically and directly disagreed with a recommendation by the City administration arguing that the proposed amendment not be adopted. The staff recommendation, contained in a memorandum dated May 13 of this year, asserts that the City should not act to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation without appropriate �state or national direction.� Congress and the Illinois General Assembly both have failed to adopt legislation assuring gay men and lesbians protection against discrimination in employment, banking, housing and other basic accommodations. The ACLU of Illinois statement deconstructs this argument, noting that the lack of such national and state action was contemplated in the specific grant of home rule power for local governments contained in the Illinois State Constitution. Communities such as Bloomington have worked tirelessly to advance and protect their home rule authority, often arguing that it is essential for municipalities to have the authority to address problems at the local level. Given the evidence of a real problem of discrimination based upon sexual orientation in Bloomington, the City Council clearly has a substantial interest in passing the amendment to address the problem. The ACLU statement notes that the staff assertion is �contrary to the very principle behind the home rule powers that municipalities� in Illinois enjoy. Moreover, the ACLU of Illinois pointed out that other Illinois communities, including Normal, Urbana, Oak Park, Evanston, LaGrange, Chicago, Champaign, Decatur and Cook County, all have enacted similar protections to those contained in the Bloomington proposal. The ACLU of Illinois has more than 15,000 members across the state, with many members in the Bloomington-Normal area. For more than sixty years, the ACLU has been working in the courts and legislatures across the United States to insure equality under law for persons regardless of their sexual orientation. Editors Note: A copy of the ACLU of Illinois Statement is available upon request. |
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