I try to keep an open mind. Compassion can't be exercised without one, so I strive to understand the viewpoints of others as deeply as I can. Still, when a friend says, “I don't see why Martin Luther King Day should be a national holiday, or why human rights merit one,” and wasn't the first to say so, I struggled. Monday wasn't just MLK Day; it was also Human Rights Day in Idaho. January 1947 marked the initial drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which outlines basic civil rights including marriage, voting, religion, and economic equality (many on which MLK also focused, leading to several changes in U.S. law now considered fundamental). This document was signed December of the following year, when most other states and nations celebrate Human Rights Day.  To be honest, I hadn't encountered such a viewpoint until moving to Idaho from another state, so I spent the weekend exploring why/Sholeh Patrick, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here. (AP photo for illustrative purposes)

Question: Have you encountered anyone who questioned the need for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday?

In this Jesse Tinsley SR file photo, Jeff, Alisa and Colin, 3, Brummer of Marysville, Pennsylvania stop to see the wooden sculpture called “Tolerance” at the Bonner County Courthouse in Sandpoint.

It has survived controversy, complaints and at least one arson attempt, but the Tolerance sculpture at the Bonner County Courthouse is not enduring the elements too well. “The legs are rotting off,” Commission Chairman Cornel Rasor said of the sculpture’s timbers. Commissioners began deliberations Tuesday on what to do with the sculpture, but put off a decision until they had a chance to discuss the matter with those who donated the piece to the county 11 years ago/Keith Kinnaird, Bonner County Bee. More here.

Question: Do those upright logs say “Tolerance” to you?

A woman who lives as a man and grows a beard as a symbol of her activism for human rights is back in jail after being wanted on a felony warrant since February.

Paula K. Reynolds-Eblacas, 45, alias Joseph Muhammad, was ordered to stay in jail on $50,000 bond after appearing before Spokane County Superior Court Judge Michael Price Tuesday on a third-degree assault charge.

The charge stems from an incident in July 2009 in which Reynolds-Eblacas allegedly assaulted a Spokane police officer who was trying to transport her to a hospital for a mental evaluation.

The officer “felt the pressure of Paula squeezing her fist and he thrust his hips away from her hand to break free,” according to a probable cause affidavit. “The defendant said, 'I was trying to grab your pant leg and your body got in the way.”

Reynolds-Eblacas' attorney withdrew earlier this month - the third attorney withdrawal since the case began - and she is representing herself. Price set a stay hearing for Dec. 30 to inquire about her competency to stand trial, though she already was ruled competent earlier this year.

Reynolds-Eblacas entered an Alford plea in 2006 to a charge of violating a protection order after a woman said she tried to end a friendship with her but was inundated with phone calls and others contacts.

• re: Coeur d'Alene Press editorial Sunday telling Human Rights Task Force to quit living in the past

It is with no anger or retribution that I share with all of you my grief over the setback this editorial could do to the advancement of human rights. I know from a life time of commitment to this cause that the peddlers of hate would like nothing better than have human rights organizations and activists become silent. As long as God gives me the strength to be active, I will not remain silent. Today I did a silent prayer asking God to give me the strength, wisdom and kindness in making the proper response. I find no examples in history that silence resulted in a victory over the forces of prejudice, bigotry or the eradication of hate. The conservative columnist for the Washington Post, Kathleen Parker, stated it most eloquently in her column when she wrote: “When you choose to remain silent, consider yourself complicit in whatever transpires”/Tony Stewart, Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. More here.

Reaction?

In this photo from May 14, 2011, retired North Idaho College political science instructor and human rights advocate Tony Stewart speaks at a meeting where he explained how census data show minorities in Idaho have grown. SR photo/Jesse Tinsley

Millwood Presbyterian Church will continue its speaker series on human rights with a talk by Coeur d'Alene resident Tony Stewart tonight at 7 p.m. in the church, located at 3223 N. Marguerite Road. He plans to speak on racism in the Northwest.

Stewart was a founding member of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations in 1981, when a local white supremacist group was going strong. He was awarded the National Education Association's 2010 H. Councill Trenholm Memorial Civil Rights Award and the 2008 Carl Maxey Racial Justice Award from the Spokane YMCA.

The first 125 people to arrive at 6 p.m. can have an authentic Mexican taco dinner provided by Taco Los Panchos and Taco Works, both businesses in Coeur d'Alene that have recently been the target of racist demonstrations. The suggested donation for the dinner is $6; admission to the talk is free.

Item: Human rights panel prepares for action: Benewah County Group in process of incorporation/Maureen Dolan, Coeur d'Alene Press

More Info: A fledgling human rights group is preparing to move into action in Benewah County. The Benewah Human Rights Coalition, led by former county commissioner Christina Crawford began forming earlier this year. “Our goal is to provide education to make sure that people are treated fairly and to keep a record of incidents and activities that are not in keeping with peaceful coexistence,” Crawford told The Press.

Question: What will be the biggest challenge that the Benewah County human rights group faces?

Marshall Mend has seen North Idaho make great strides with human rights, he says. But there’s always more to do. “Some people think human rights is for everybody, ‘except.’ They always have an ‘except’ in there,” he said Monday. “But human rights is for human beings, that’s why it’s called human rights. It’s doesn’t matter whether you’re Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, gay or straight. It’s for everybody.” He’s still working to get the word out. Mend, pictured, a longtime human rights activist in Kootenai County, has been tapped to provide guidance on civil rights legislation and enforcement. The Coeur d’Alene Realtor was appointed in December to the state advisory committee for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights/Alecia Warren, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here. (SR photo: Kathy Plonka)

Today, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a good time to recommit yourself to promoting human rights. Do you have any special plans to commemorate the life of the civil rights leader and the human rights cause?

State leaders have made it clear they’re not interested in extending anti-discrimination protections to the gay and lesbian community. At the start of 2009, I watched members of the Senate State Affairs Committee barely give Sen. Nicole LeFavour (pictured, via Wikipedia) the courtesy of their attention before quickly voting against printing her bill to amend the Idaho Human Rights Act to include LGBT protections in the workplace, education and housing. A week before LeFavour was shot down by her fellow senators, the Idaho Human Rights Commission — an organization tasked specifically with “ensuring that all people within the state are treated with dignity and respect”—voted against supporting LeFavour’s proposed legislation/Rachael Daigle, Boise Weekly. More here.

Question: Should Idaho extend human rights protections to the gay and lesbian community?