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October 10, 2001Panelists present Proposal one views to voters- Forum, which will be rebroadcast on tctv2, gathered reps from both sides of contested issueBy ALISON VANENGENRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - A lively debate on Proposal One was broadcast live on tctv2 Tuesday night, in the interest of educating the voting public before the Nov. 6 election. The forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Grand Traverse chapter, consisted of two panelists representing each side of the controversial issue. The proponents of the proposal were Bob Schmidt, a resident of Empire and member of the Traverse City Citizens Voting Yes for Equal Rights Not Special Rights, and Gary Glenn, President of the American Family Association of Michigan, based in Midland. The opposing side was represented by Bonnie Deigh and Paul Heaton, co-chairs of the Traverse City Campaign Against Discrimination. Proposal One would bar any city body, agency or board from adopting any policy, rule or ordinance that would include homosexuals or bisexuals among groups granted protection from discrimination. The Traverse City Campaign Against Discrimination supports the city commission's non-binding anti-discrimination resolution, adopted in February 2000, that included "sexual orientation" to the list of protected status. The proposal was under fire by Heaton and Deigh, who are concerned that, if passed, it would be a license to discriminate against gay people. "It is shameful to be considering the twisted and deceptive language of this proposal," said Heaton. "The reality is that this proposal would prevent the city from ever providing protection against discrimination to gay people ... ever." Heaton and Deigh believe that the wording of the proposal mentions only gays, and not any other group of people, because proponents of the proposal are specifically targeting gay people for discrimination. Deigh pointed out that there is no constitutional protection of homosexual people against discrimination, and as such there should be some legislation enacted to protect them as other groups are protected. If the city charter is amended to prohibit the city from enacting any law to protect gays, then anyone could be fired or denied housing for being homosexual. Paul Heaton identified himself as the only gay person on the panel. "I just would like to be left alone," he said during closing remarks. "Stop turning personal views into public policy." Glenn and Schmidt, representing the supporters of Proposal One, are opposed to including sexual orientation in city policies or documents because they believe that such wording implies that the government condones homosexuality and gives gays "special status." They have strong feelings that homosexuality is wrong in any sense and do not want it either included or protected. "The purpose of this proposal is to keep the existing equal rights laws the way they are, so the only way they can be changed is by a vote of the people," said Glenn. Glenn insisted that unlike other physical and mental characteristics protected by law, homosexuality is a behavioral choice and as such should not be protected. He also mentioned that if the city give gays protected status under the law, it then discriminates against people of faith, and could prevent the city from funding faith-based groups like the Boy Scouts. In Ann Arbor, the city commission adopted a measure to protect gays, and in August the commission was forced to prohibit the United Way and Boy Scouts from being included on city employee payroll deduction pledge cards. Glenn said that homosexuality was also a major health issue, and that it should be looked at the same way as smoking. "We should be doing things to restrict this type of behavior, that is three times more deadly than smoking," said Glenn. "Smoking can shorten your life by 7.5 years, but if you're gay, you're 20 percent more likely to die. Medical research supports the fact that men who practice the gay lifestyle are more likely to commit domestic violence, more likely to have mental illness, more likely to contract AIDS, hepatitis and cancer." Voters will go to the polls Nov. 6 to vote on Proposal One, and to elect a mayor and three city commissioners. The forum will be re-broadcast on tctv2 Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m., and Oct. 22 and Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. |
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