GALESBURG- The Galesburg City Council may soon vote on whether to amend the city's anti-discrimination ordinance to allow complaints based on sexual orientation. The city's Human Relations Commission, the body to which discrimination complaints are brought, voted eight to one Tuesday to recommend the City Council amend the ordinance to allow sexual orientation complaints. Currently, the city ordinance states no one may be discriminated against in employment, housing, public accommodations and financing "based on race, color, sex, religion age, ancestry, national origin, marital status, Vietnam veteran status, unfavorable military discharge, or physical or mental handicap unrelated to ability."
No date has been set for the council to consider the addition of sexual orientation to the list of protected conditions.The issue arose before the Human Relations Commission this fall when commission member Antonio "Tony" Franklin asked whey sexual orientation was not part of the ordinance. Since that time, several people told the commission they feared such inclusion would grant "minority status" to homosexuals, and that homosexuality is an unhealthy lifestyle. ' Other people said their should be recourse when people are discriminated against because of sexual preference, and that such discrimination is a real problem in Galesburg.
Jo Ann Harris, Galesburg's human services coordinator, said there is no state or federal agency where such people may turn, though some corporations and universities have instituted their own policies regarding discrimination due to sexual orientation.
Jason Pierceson, 24 of Galesburg, said he is a homosexual who works for Knox College. He said the college has such an anti-discrimination policy, but he knows many homosexuals in Galesburg who do not have the same job protections. Therefore, he said, some do not feel safe in public advocating the ordinance change. Still, he said, he hopes a supportive contingent will appear before the City Council.
Phil Dickinson, who chairs the Galesburg commission, stressed that if the city's anti discrimination ordinance were amended to include sexual orientation , it would not bring about hiring quotas in the workplace.
Commission member Dean Easton, who cast the lone dissenting vote on the recommendation, said he is against all types of discrimination, but he doesn't think that a category of people should be singled out "without total investigation of other groups." Asked by a commission member what category or condition he was referring to, Easton replied, "maybe obesity." Other commission members noted that discrimination due to physical statutus is already prohibited.
Only Chicago, Cook County, Champaign, Urbana, and Oak Park prohibit sexual orientation discrimination. State and federal employees are protected against such discrimination in the workplace. A handful of states have declared sexual orientation as a civil right. Illinois is not among them, although another gay rights bill is expected to be introduced this spring in the Illinois General Assembly.
Attorney and commission member Tom Pepmeyer said the commission will have to explain its intent to the Galesburg City Council. "I think there's really going to be a lot of questions, " he said.
