Coeur d’Alene soon may join a growing number of Idaho cities to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation – a reaction to the Legislature’s steadfast refusal to add such protections to state law, reports Spokesman-Review reporter Scott Maben. City Councilman Mike Kennedy is drafting an ordinance modeled after Boise’s; it would protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. “I think it’s needed, I think it’s overdue, and it’s simple equal rights,” Kennedy said; you can read Maben’s full report here at spokesman.com.

The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations asked the Coeur d’Alene Council to add the language to the city code, Kennedy said. In a Feb. 4 letter to the mayor and City Council, the Task Force wrote, “The City of Coeur d’Alene has the opportunity to move forward in advancing the principles we have all promoted for decades. We urge you to stand on the broad shoulders of those who have gone before you in confirming once again the dignity and rights of all our residents and share in this noble legacy.”

The Legislature has spurned attempts each of the past seven years to add the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the state’s Human Rights Act, which now bans discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age or disability. Most years lawmakers refused to even allow the bill to be introduced. “The Legislature didn’t act again this year on it, and so it makes sense to do it now and help push the momentum toward a statewide law,” Kennedy said. He plans to bring the ordinance before the City Council in May. Sandpoint, Boise, Moscow and Ketchum already have enacted such ordinances; Pocatello rejected one last week, but plans to consider a modified version.

A divided Pocatello City Council has defeated a proposed anti-discrimination ordinance to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, with Mayor Brian Blad casting the tie-breaking vote at a tense, packed meeting last night, the Idaho State Journal reports. The council had split 3-3 on the ordinance to ban such discrimination in employment, housing or public accommodations.

However, the issue’s not dead; the Journal reports that Blad, before he cast his “no” vote, said, “I believe this has divided this community in half. I believe we can draft an ordinance that most people can accept.” Blad ordered a council work session for May 9 to work on a modified ordinance to be introduced at the June 6 council meeting. “My main goal is to bring the community together and it's split right now,” Blad said; see the Journal’s full report here.

The Pocatello ordinance was modeled after measures already adopted in the past year in Sandpoint, Boise and Moscow, after the Idaho Legislature repeatedly refused to consider amending the Idaho Human Rights Act to outlaw such discrimination statewide.

The Pocatello City Council is scheduled to vote tonight on an ordinance to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, reports Boise State Public Radio, and the vote is expected to be close. Other Idaho cities, including Sandpoint, Boise and Moscow, already have adopted such ordinances, after the Idaho Legislature refused for more than half the past decade to consider amending the Idaho Human Rights Act to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the types of discrimination that are illegal. BSPR reports that the Pocatello council heard emotional testimony on the proposed ordinance on April 4, with more than 50 people speaking out in favor of it, in advance of tonight's vote; you can read their full report here.

Here's a news item from the Associated Press: MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — The Moscow City Council has passed an anti-discrimination ordinance that makes it illegal to make housing and employment decisions based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The council passed the ordinance Monday amid protests by Mayor Nancy Chaney and some residents who say they were not given a chance to comment on the proposal. Councilman Dan Cascallen says the panel had received volumes of emails and felt it had taken enough public opinion. Chaney says she believes the ordinance warranted discussion from all sides. She says she believes the council's action will put a blight on the city. The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/12apLRM ) the ordinance passed unanimously. Other Idaho cities that already have passed such non-discrimination ordinances include Sandpoint, Boise, and Hailey; the state Legislature has refused to consider a statewide non-discrimination ban for the past six years.

A large crowd has turned out today for a panel discussion on Idaho’s Human Rights Act and its possible amendment to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Gathered in the Capitol Auditorium, the crowd is hearing from a panel moderated by David Adler, director of the Andrus Center for Public Policy.

“Until all of us are free, none of us are free,” said the Rev. Marci Glass, pastor of Southminster Presbyterian Church; she said her support for non-discrimination is deeply rooted in scripture and her Christian beliefs. Clark Krause, executive director of the Boise Valley Economic Partnership, said, “Discrimination is bad for business – period.”

John Reuter, former Sandpoint City Council president, said, “I felt a special obligation as a white, straight male Republican to say, hey … look, there are people who can’t speak.” Reuter spearheaded Sandpoint’s non-discrimination ordinance for sexual orientation and gender identity; since that was adopted last year, Boise and Ketchum have followed suit, and other Idaho cities are considering ordinances. But the state Legislature has rejected such legislation for the past six years.

“I think action is possible in Idaho, and it’s going to be bipartisan if it happens in Idaho,” Reuter said, “and I think it will happen.” He said when he was on the Sandpoint council, it was divided between Republicans and Democrats, though officially nonpartisan. “We came together to say this is the right thing for all of our citizens,” he said, “for people to have a right to keep a job … without being discriminated against for something that has nothing to do with their job performance, and is an innate part of who they are.”

Other panelists include Boise City Councilwoman Maryanne Jordan, Bardenay restaurant owner Kevin Settles, and Idaho Human Rights Commission Director Pam Parks, who shared the history of the Idaho Human Rights Act – enacted at the behest of then-Sen. Phil Batt, who later served as Idaho’s governor. The act currently bans discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin or disability in employment, housing and public accommodations. Said Adler, “Everybody is protected - unless you’re not.”

Settles said, “My restaurants are big places, they need to be busy. It takes a lot of people for us to turn a profit, it takes a lot of employees.” He said, “Exclusive restaurants generally don’t survive.”

Ketchum’s city council voted unanimously this week to enact protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in housing, employment and public accommodations, Boise State Public Radio reports. The city’s move follows the enactment of similar ordinances this year in Sandpoint and Boise – and the state Legislature’s refusal, for six straight years, to consider the “Add the Words” bill to add the words sexual orientation and gender identity to the Idaho Human Rights Act, to prohibit such discrimination statewide. You can read Boise State Public Radio’s full post here, and the Idaho Mountain Express report here; Pride Foundation has a report here.

Here's a news item from the Associated Press: LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — Add Twin Falls and Lewiston to the list of Idaho cities to ban discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation. City councils in both cities voted Monday night for language adding sexual orientation to their non-discrimination policies. The Lewiston City Council voted 5-2 to outlaw discrimination in hiring of city jobs. Leaders in Twin Falls voted 5-2 to add sexual orientation to the anti-harassment and discrimination policy for city employees. Lewiston and Twin Falls now join Boise, Sandpoint, Moscow and Caldwell in taking the official step to prohibit discrimination on hiring for city jobs based on a person's sexual preference or orientation. In addition, Sandpoint and Boise have banned such discrimination in jobs, housing and public accommodations citywide, and Pocatello is considering such an ordinance. The votes also come nearly a year after state lawmakers rejected a bill for a statewide ban on workplace and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Boise has become Idaho's second city to enact an ordinance banning discrimination in employment, housing or public accommodations based on sexual orientation or gender identity; the Boise City Council last night voted unanimously in favor of the ordinance, a move that was followed by a standing ovation in a packed Capitol Auditorium. You can see a full report here from KBOI2 News.

Sandpoint last year became the first Idaho city to enact such an ordinance; Pocatello has one in the works. It's an issue the Idaho Legislature has repeatedly refused to consider, despite an outpouring of support across the state last year for the “Add the Words” campaign, which called for adding the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the Idaho Human Rights Act. That's the law that currently makes it illegal to fire someone, evict them or deny them service in a restaurant on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age or disability. The state legislation has been rejected for six straight years; this year's push included well-attended rallies across the state, including one that drew more than a thousand people to the state Capitol.

Boise's ordinance takes effect Jan. 1; it exempts churches and private organizations like the Boy Scouts.

Hundreds of Boiseans turned out for a five-hour public hearing last night, with nearly all in favor of a proposed city ordinance to ban discrimination in housing and public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Citizens shared emotional stories of living in fear of losing their jobs if employers found out they were gay; business leaders said the ordinance will help the city attract employers. You can read the Boise Weekly's account here, and the Idaho Statesman's report here; and see KTVB-TV's report here and KBOI2 News' report here.

For some background, here's a link to my Aug. 5 story on how Idaho's cities are moving to ban such discrimination, after the the state Legislature repeatedly refused to consider legislation for a statewide ban. Boise's City Council is expected to vote on the ordinance Dec. 4.

Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce President Kate McAlister wasn't expecting it when a woman in her 60s walked up to her at a community function, hugged her and started crying. “She said, 'I want you to know that because of what you did, for the first time in all our lives I can take my partner to a Christmas party without fear of being fired,'” McAlister recalled.

This was after McAlister helped push through a new city-wide non-discrimination ordinance in Sandpoint barring discrimination in employment, housing or public accommodations based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In Idaho, it's still legal to fire someone because they're gay, or to evict them from their home, or deny them service in a restaurant. But it's no longer legal in Sandpoint.

“When it passed, there was a round of applause from the audience,” said Sandpoint Mayor Marsha Ogilvie, who added that she was surprised to learn that Sandpoint was the first Idaho city to enact such a law. Sandpoint's seen no opposition to its ordinance, which passed unanimously. Pocatello is now drafting a similar ordinance; its city council could take a vote on it as soon as this fall; and Boise is now looking into an ordinance. Said McAlister, “If tiny little Sandpoint can do this, anybody can do it. I'm not sure what's stopping us.”

Idaho appears to be in the early stages of a process that's already happened in neighboring states. In Oregon, a dozen cities or counties, including Portland, Salem, Bend, Corvallis, Eugene and more, had passed local non-discrimination ordinances regarding sexual orientation before a statewide non-discrimination law was enacted in 2007. In Washington, local laws also were passed in a dozen cities and counties before a statewide law passed in 2006. Spokane's local ordinance passed in 1999; Seattle's passed back in the 1970s. In Utah, 15 cities or counties have now enacted non-discrimination ordinances for sexual orientation, including Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, which did so with the strong support of the Mormon church, the state's dominant religious organization.

But Utah hasn't yet passed a state law, despite repeated attempts in the Legislature. And in Washington, the process was a long one - the bill there was introduced every year for 29 years before it finally passed. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com, and my sidebar here on how in neighboring states, employers have led the push to enact such laws.

More than 1,000 people turned out for an “Add The Words” rally at the state Capitol on Saturday, reports the Boise Weekly, with hundreds then pouring into the state capitol and quietly posting sticky notes on glass doors inside with the message - asking support for adding “sexual orientation or gender identity” to Idaho's Human Rights Act, which now bans discrimination in housing and employment on the basis of race, religion or disability, but not sexual orientation. Similar rallies were held in numerous locations around the state.

The Idaho Press-Tribune reported on rallies in Caldwell, Nampa, and Weiser, and reported that Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, indicated he'll take the unusual step of allowing public testimony at a print hearing for the bill this year if requested to do so by the measure's sponsors; last year, Senate Minority Leader Edgar Malepeai, D-Pocatello, introduced the measure as a personal bill, but McKenzie declined to schedule a hearing on it. A print hearing is the preliminary consideration of a bill by a legislative committee, at which members decide if the bill should be introduced, printed and given a bill number. Generally, such hearings are brief and include only comments from the bill's sponsor and questions from the committee; if a bill advances, the next step is a full public hearing.

The group's ongoing sticky note campaign was prompted by the lack of a hearing to take public testimony on the bill, despite pushes for it for the last six years; Capitol security personnel are removing the sticky notes once they're posted. “People's words are there in the statehouse,” said campaign spokesperson Mistie Tolman. “For some of us, that's a start to a powerful conversation that's constantly improving the outlook for the legislation this year.” Members of the group say they're posting the sticky notes because they can't otherwise get their point across to the Legislature without a hearing. The issue was a focus at Idaho's recent Martin Luther King Jr./Idaho Human Rights Day celebration in the state capitol.

The “Add the Words” campaign, which is pushing to add the words “sexual orientation or gender identity” to the Idaho Human Rights Act to ban discrimination on that basis in housing and employment, has continued to post sticky notes in the state Capitol with its supporters' messages; the act now bans discrimination on the basis of race, religion or disability. The campaign was a big focus of Idaho's recent Martin Luther King Jr./Idaho Human Rights Day celebration; legislation to make the change was introduced last year but didn't advance. Here, former Idaho Human Rights Commission Director Marilyn Shuler, who gave the keynote address at the state's official MLK Day ceremony, displays her sticky note with the “Add the Words” message. Click below for the group's full announcement about its campaign.