Press Release: Winston-Salem, NC, protects gay & lesbian employees
by Matt | June 28th, 2007 |From Activate! - The North Carolina Advocacy Coalition (original story):
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 28, 2007
Contact: Matt Hill Comer
Executive Director
Phone 336 391 9528
ncadvocacy@gmail.com
PO Box 24972
Winston-Salem, NC 27114
Phone 336 391 9528
ncadvocacycoalition.org
Winston-Salem City Council protects gay & lesbian employees
Gay and Lesbian advocacy group praises decision; calls for more
WINSTON-SALEM, NC - Members of Activate! – The North Carolina Advocacy Coalition (Activate – NCAC) are praising the decision by the Winston-Salem City Council to protect city employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
At its June 18, 2007, meeting the Winston-Salem City Council unanimously approved amendments to City Personnel Policies adding the term “sexual orientation” to a list of characteristics for which city employees will not be discriminated against.
The City of Winston-Salem joins Orange, Durham, Guilford, and Mecklenburg County, as well as the municipalities of Bessemer City, Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Durham, Greensboro, and Raleigh, in a growing list of county, city and town governments protecting employees on the basis of sexual orientation.
“We think it is of absolute importance that all citizens are treated equally and fairly in employment,” states Matt Comer, Executive Director of Activate – NCAC, who first spoke to City Councilman Dan Besse about possible policy changes in 2006, “We know for a fact that gay and lesbian employees face above average discrimination in employment and they are not protected by any state statute.”
According to a new study released this month by the Williams Institute at UCLA, 15 to 43 percent of lesbian, gay, or bisexual surveyed since 1992 report being discriminated against in employment. Transgender individuals reported discrimination at a rate of 20 to 57 percent.
Activate - NCAC is calling on the City of Winston-Salem to also protect employees on the basis of gender-identity or expression. Transgender citizens face even more difficulties in employment and are not protected in the majority of those local governments which have taken steps to stop discrimination. Only Carrboro and Chapel Hill have policies inclusive of gender identity or expression.
Activate – NCAC is a state and local political action committee based in Winston-Salem, NC, run and organized by young adults and focused on getting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and straight youth involved in the political and activism process on LGBT issues. More information is available at www.ncadvocacycoalition.org
Previous Stories:
- North Carolina News: Guilford County passes new anti-discrimination policy March 22, 2007
- Winston-Salem: An inclusive community? October 23, 2006
My letter to the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education, prompted by the news above:
From: Matt Hill Comer matt.hill.comer@gmail.com
To: Geneva Brown (gbrown2@wsfcs.k12.nc.us), Buddy Collins (bcollins2@wsfcs.k12.nc.us), Jane Goins (jgoins@wsfcs.k12.nc.us), Vic Johnson (vjohnson@wsfcs.k12.nc.us), Donny Lambeth (dlambeth@wsfcs.k12.nc.us), Jeannie Metcalf (jmetcalf@wsfcs.k12.nc.us), Elisabeth Motsinger (emotsinger@wsfcs.k12.nc.us), Marilyn Parker (mparker@wsfcs.k12.nc.us), Jill Tackaberry (tack4schools@triad.rr.com)
Dear members of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education,
The community is beginning to learn that the Winston-Salem City Council amended its personnel policies to include prohibiting discrimination against city employees based on sexual orientation.
A press release about the City Council decision can be seen here.
I was wondering… Seeing as though this change was made and, at least to my knowledge, the sky hasn’t fallen yet, when will the Board of Education see fit to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students from harassment, bullying and protecting employees from discrimination?
For almost a decade or longer, community members have asked for this change. I endured four years of tormentful harassment because I am gay and while a student at R.J. Reynolds High School (Class of 2004) I asked the Board numerous times to make this change.
Yet, the change hasn’t come. Instead, I have heard my elected leaders publicly use words like “faggot” and tell me that I shouldn’t be protected because I’m a sinner.
Wouldn’t it be nice for the Board to make this change voluntarily, before being forced to do so when the NC Senate passes the School Violence Prevention Act?
Thank you,
Matt Hill Comer
Reply from Donny Lambeth, the Chairman of the Board:
We have discussed this issue in the past and we have no plans to discuss this again. Our policy is consistent with other school systems and does not allow discrimination of any kinds. thanks for your email
Donny C. Lambeth
My Response:
Mr. Lambeth,
If school system policies prohibit discrimination of all kinds, then please tell me why School Attorney Doug Punger told me in 2004 that gay-straight alliances are “political clubs” which cannot be school sponsored or appear in the yearbook, yet “political clubs” like Teenage Democrats and Teenage Republicans are still, to this day, allowed to have school sponsorship and appear in yearbooks?
Policies are not being enforced fairly. They never have been.
I don’t think you speak for the whole Board, Mr. Lambeth. I can think of at least one Board member who is just fine with discriminating against gay students:
“I told him we shouldn’t be making concessions to homosexuals because it is clearly portrayed in the Bible as sin… And believe me, I know we all sin but what other sin can you think of that has been so white-washed? Let’s have murder-pride marches, rape-pride marches etc.” Jeannie Metcalf, Winston-Salem Journal B1 February 13, 2003
“I think homosexuality is a sin. If they want to make fun of them, I don’t have a problem with it.” Jeannie Metcalf, Winston-Salem Journal February 4, 2003
Quite frankly, I am kind of hurt by your very short reply. You say that the Board has had this conversation before. No, the Board hasn’t had this conversation. What the Board has done in the past is make up their minds before the conversation ever begins. What the Board has done is talked out of both sides of its mouth.
I apologize if I come off as being angry. Perhaps I am angry. I’m angry at the fact that for almost a decade, students have suffered and we know they are suffering and we know that harassment is a problem, yet the Board wants to ignore it because of how “sinful” they think the people being harassed are. In fact, I say have the right to be angry, because when I was being harassed and tormented every day and when I was, at times, afraid to go to school, you and the Board did absolutely NOTHING when I and others asked for your help. The only people I can thank for any type of help they had to offer are teachers who were very close to me and my principal, Mr. Elrod. I wish I could thank you, but I can’t.
The school system policies do not protect students from harassment based on sexual orientation or gender-identity. That is a fact. Those words do not appear in any policy. By saying that the policies cover everyone, you are telling a lie.
As for the reason why these words should appear and why they should be enumerated, I’ll quote NC Representative Rick Glazier, sponsor of the School Violence Prevention Act:
“…enumeration is required because all of us get concerned, tense up, when we talk about kids who are different. We may be mature enough to handle that but [youth] are not… It is a bill designed to make sure all children are safe when they go to school. We know that every bit of data in the state and nationwide that there are certain children which are much more likely to be attacked and bullied. There is I think another world out there. I think in the end, we have a responsibility to every child regardless of whether they are unique by creation or exceptional by designation. In the end when we protect every child from harm we protect all of our children and all of our grandchildren.”
I’ll also quote Rep. Earline Parmon, from her remarks during debate on the School Violence Prevention Act:
“I have years of experience as an administrator in public education. I can tell you that because of our own biases I had to discipline teachers because homosexual children were being bullied and teachers didn’t speak up and when I asked one teacher why she did nothing, the teacher said she thought it would help make a man out of them. We must be specific and send a strong message to those with these biases. I don’t support protecting a gay lifestyle but this bill isn’t about that. It is about protecting our children and telling the adults we hold responsible for their protection that these children are vulnerable. We must send a strong message. We must have a safe environment. We must be specific about it.”
Matt Hill Comer
Matt, 22, is an LGBT journalist, activist and youth advocate currently living and working in Charlotte, N.C., where he serves as the Editor of Q-Notes, the Carolinas' LGBT news source. A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Matt attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is still continuing to pursue his bachelors degree. He is the Owner & Editor of InterstateQ.com and has been active in LGBT advocacy work since the age of 14.
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