Letters Sept. 24, 2008

‘Rights’  opponents resort to  ‘toilet talk’  

Thanks be to god for The Citizen’s expose of the religious right’s opposition to Hamtramck’s Human Rights ordinance. 

Andrew Wesley, and his ventriloquists, Gary Glenn of the American Family Association and Richard Thompson of the Thomas More Law Center, have diminished a legitimate conversation of employment and housing discrimination to, well, toilet talk.  

Literally.  

Instead of talking about real issues regarding Hamtramck’s Human Rights ordinance, they’ve taken their anti-gay initiative banter to the bathroom.  

You see, outsiders Wesley, Glenn, and Thompson, won’t talk about the real issues. They won’t talk about how Hamtramck’s Human Rights ordinance protects everyone against discrimination. They just want to snort about gay and transgender people.  

They’ve clearly avoided talking about the 16 other municipalities in Michigan that have adopted Human Rights ordinances similar to ours, because Detroit, Lansing, Ferndale, Birmingham, Dearborn Heights, Saginaw, Flint, Grand Rapids, etc. might be too much to remember.  

They probably won’t talk about how their counterparts from the American Family Association and their anti-GLBT initiative in Maryland was thrown off the ballot by the Maryland Court of Appeals because it was deemed unconstitutional. They won’t talk about that.  

They probably won’t share with you that in 1993 when voters in Cincinnati were faced with Issue 3, (a charter amendment aimed at deleting ‘sexual orientation’ from Cincinnati’s anti-discrimination ordinance), the Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau posted a $63.7 million loss in convention business directly related to Issue 3’s amendment passing.  

Yes, that is what really happens when people like Wesley, Glenn, and Thompson, turn their prejudicial views into public policy. People leave … and they take their money with them.  

The real issue is this: no one’s basic civil right should ever be put up for a vote. Yet, in Hamtramck, it is. Wesley and his surrogates have forced the question onto the November ballot by tricking people into signing a petition with their potty talk.  

That’s why I’m standing up to fight the ballot initiative, because I don’t want to see my community fed pervasive lies by outside activists. People need to become educated about the real issues of Hamtramck’s Human Rights ordinance, because their vote could have real effects with dire economic consequences.   

If you want to read the ordinance you can find it online at Hamtramck United Against Discrimination’s website, www.hamtramckunited.org. Also on the website, you can also listen to both sides discussing the issue during a WDET interview.  

Afterward, when it comes time to vote, I’m hoping you agree to support the ordinance and vote “Yes”  — Yes as in discrimination is wrong. 

And Yes we should have basic rights to housing, employment, and public accommodations. 

 Richard Lee Sparks  

Hamtramck

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Voters have a choice to make Hamtramck a ‘welcoming’ city 

It’s quite telling that Andrew Wesley and his Midland- and Ann Arbor-based surrogates can only cite the most obscure court cases where transgender folks have invaded public restrooms.  

If Wesley’s fears have even an ounce of truth, you would think he could cite numerous cases where his fears became reality.  

The fact is, over 13 states and 100 municipalities across America, including 16 cities in Michigan, have human rights ordinances that cover everyone, including gay and transgender folks.  

Someone can have a firmly-held belief that homosexuality is sinful, but still believe that firing someone because they are gay or kicking someone out of their apartment because they are transgender is also wrong.  

The voters of Hamtramck have an opportunity this November to join 16 other cities in Michigan who have passed human rights ordinances and thrived as welcoming communities, or buy into the culture of fear and division that people like Andrew Wesley and the far-right American Family Association promote.  

I am confident Hamtramckans will vote “YES” this November to preserve basic human dignity in our city.  

Greg Manore 

Hamtramck