Norman stands for inclusive city policy for LGBTQ community

By Joy Hampton, Senior Staff Writer
The Norman Transcript

Red T-shirts packed the small city council study room Tuesday as Norman City Council members were updated on federal decisions applying bans on sexual discrimination to include protections for the LGBTQ community. “Standing together for an inclusive Norman,” the T-shirts said.

“If you took a poll of the folks in the room tonight of those who have adult children who need to live out of state because of discrimination issues, you’d find a majority, and I think most of us are working for strong and healthy families that can stay together in Oklahoma,” Norman resident Cindy Cason said.

The Norman City Council agreed to consider a resolution to align the city’s policy with recent federal decisions regarding sex discrimination at the council meeting Dec. 22.

City Attorney Jeff Bryant said that recent executive orders affecting federal employment, Housing and Urban Development policy decisions, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission findings and decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States and other courts have broadened sex discrimination to include any sex-based considerations taken into account as a basis for decisions, rather than using other criteria such as job qualification or performance.

Sexual orientation and gender identity have not been recognized as protected groups under Title VII, but legal reasoning in these cases focuses on discrimination resulting from use of assumptions or stereotypes associated with sex, Bryant said.

“They’re providing an interpretation for what sex discrimination should mean in Chapter 7 of the city ordinances,” said Norman attorney Don Holladay, who was lead council on Bishop v. Smith, the Oklahoma case striking down the same-sex marriage ban. “In Norman, there’s no reason to have second-class citizens. Norman has always just been a leader in the state when it comes to equality. This resolution reflects that leadership.”

Holladay said city ordinances already prohibit discrimination for work, public housing and public accommodations based on sex in accordance with federal guidelines on protected categories.

“I think this is a great step forward. Folks have been working on this for decades,” said Troy Stevenson of Freedom Oklahoma. “This particular effort has been going on for over a year now, and we’re two weeks away from a more inclusive Norman.”

Kami Day from Norman United said residents from many walks of life support a more inclusive community and moving forward with this policy statement.

“We began working on this in October 2014 and we got together and decided we wanted to work on a more inclusive city policy,” Day said. “We’ve been gathering support. When the EEOC and the HUD resolutions came down expanding the definition of sex, we were able to benefit from that.”

Kay Holladay is a member of Norman United and PFLAG Norman.

“Parents just want their kids and all kids to feel safe from being fired from their jobs,” Holladay said. “They want them to be accepted in public accommodations. This is the right thing to do for all of Norman.”

The Holladays have lived in Norman since 1963 and raised their children here.

“What I heard this evening is a true reflection of what my Norman is,” Kay Holladay said.

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The Gayly – December 9, 2015 @ 7:40 a.m.