Meridian bans LGBTQ discrimination, sending what backer calls ‘message of inclusivity’

Discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity will be illegal soon in Idaho’s second-largest city, after the Meridian City Council voted to protect LGBTQ individuals.

The vote came after nearly four hours of sometimes heartfelt testimony. Community members cried. Council members choked up. The Constitution, the flag and the Bible were invoked. Conservative Christians bemoaned the loss of religious freedoms. Teachers decried that gay teenagers have been driven to suicide because of bullying and family censure.

And the Idaho Legislature was pilloried for what council members and those who addressed them described as a dereliction of duty, forcing cities to pass civil rights protections that would be better addressed at the state level.

Mayor Tammy de Weerd kicked off the hearing at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday by warning the six-member council that she would not break a tie, that “this is an important policy-making decision. Council will need to have a majority for this to pass.”

And she ended the night just before 11 p.m., ruing that “this is something that our state legislature should be addressing, not at the local level. It’s really unfortunate that our state has shirked this responsibility.”

More than 60 women and men — straight and gay, cisgender and transgender, high school students and senior citizens — stepped up to the microphone. (Cisgender people identify with the sex they had at birth). The testimony was nearly evenly split between backers of the ordinance and those who warned that it was unnecessary or harmful or just another government intrusion.

‘An abomination to the Lord’

Real estate agent Darrell Burchfield said he and his wife, Laurie, have “had a huge influx of people from, shall I say, that Golden State” calling up and wanting to move from California to Idaho. “Many times they start a conversation with, ‘I gotta get outta here. ... This is just nuts’.”

“They feel it’s such an overbearing governmental intrusiveness into their lives,” Burchfield said. “These people are moving here because they want what we have. ... not an over-intrusive government. I do not believe that we need this legislation.”

Casey J. Minshew, who called himself “a native of this great state,” told the council that “conservative values are one reason Meridian is a great place to raise families.” The proposed ordinance, he said, “protects and endorses homosexuality ... God through his word has never accepted nor condoned a homosexual lifestyle. ... It is an abomination to the Lord.”

Some opponents of the ordinance warned that children would not be safe in public bathrooms if it passed, because no one could be barred from restrooms because of their gender. Others said the ordinance was promoting “special rights” and could be used against Christian business owners “as a sword to attack people who don’t agree with them.”

The ordinance, which takes effect Oct. 5, acknowledges that the First Amendment protects people’s “free exercise of their sincere religious beliefs.” But it also ensures that “all persons, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression enjoy the full benefits of citizenship and are afforded equal opportunities for employment, housing, and the use of public accommodations.”

Violating the ordinance will be a criminal infraction punishable by a fine of $250 and court costs.

‘These kids ... are bullied’

Many of those who testified in favor of the ordinance talked about the message that the council’s action would send to young people about their value and their safety in an increasingly complicated and difficult world.

Madelynn Taylor, a Navy veteran who sued the state so that she could be buried in a southwest Idaho military cemetery with the ashes of her late wife, rolled up to the microphone in a wheelchair. She said she wanted the council to pass the ordinance “simply for the kids.”

“Those kids will see that you do it, and it will give them hope that they’ve got someone in their corner,” she said in a soft, raspy voice. “Let’s keep those kids from doing any more suicides.”

Carolyn Blackhurst said she and her family moved to Meridian from Boise in 1999. She’s been a Sunday school teacher and a youth leader and worked at a church camp for high schoolers. And she talked about the pain she has heard through the years.

“I have had so many kids share with me their fear and their hurt they have experienced because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender,” Blackhurst said through tears. “These kids have been rejected by their families, their churches, their friends, their youth leaders.

“They are bullied and preyed upon,” she said. “I have met kids who are suicidal. Our kids are hurting and afraid. As a person of faith, I’m not OK with that. ... By adopting this non-discrimination ordinance, the city of Meridian is sending a clear message of inclusivity.”

‘This is ... so important’

In the end, that sense of welcome won out, though not unanimously.

Councilman Ty Palmer, who has publicly opposed the measure from the beginning, decried what he characterized as an overly rapid approval, one that “went from a 90-day plan to a 21-day process. ... I’d love an opportunity to slow down.”

Councilman Treg Bernt said such a vote should happen at the state level, not in city council chambers like his own.

Joe Borton, council president and the ordinance’s sponsor, noted that the city had received hundreds of written comments, far more than most measures that come before the council in one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation.

“It is without hesitation or reservation that I am supportive of this effort,” Borton said before the vote. “This is something that I think is so important, and it’s such an opportunity that we don’t get as elected officials very often.

“I don’t know,” he continued. Then he paused. Choked up. Composed himself. “You don’t know what you’re guaranteed in life. You’re not guaranteed tomorrow. You’re not guaranteed anything. But we’ve got today.

“We’ve got before us an opportunity to make a statement to our community, to our valley, to our state. Every single one of us,” he said. “And I do not want to let that opportunity pass. It’s too important.”

The council voted. The ordinance passed. The audience cheered.

This story was originally published September 26, 2018 at 1:55 AM.