PORTAGE (WKZO-AM) — Just days after the nation was rocked by the assault on a gay nightclub in Orlando that left 49 dead, the Portage City Council has taken up an ordinance amendment to address lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights.
The item on the agenda Tuesday night was for first reading of the amendment. The council also set a public hearing on the proposal at their next meeting in two weeks.
Mayor Pete Strazdas allowed public comment and the speakers included opponents who said the measure had not yet received a full hearing. They also heard from the mothers of transgender children who begged the council to adopt the measure to make Portage a safe place for their child.
Reginald Platt of Kalamazoo expressed the opinion that gays were just trying to force everyone else to accept their behavior. Sheryl Gilliam said the council should go the other direction and instead of protecting particular groups, just give blanket legal protection to all human beings.
Julie Ann Bower and Cathy Greeves noted that gay or not, anyone can be perceived as gay and legally denied access to restaurants or housing or jobs, whether it was true or not. Bower said she is straight and it happened to her. They said passage of the ordinance amendment would end that.
Former Mayor Betty Lee Ongley read a letter from her church endorsing the amendment. Former Council Member John Zull, who opposes the measure, claimed such regulations had caused more conflict, not less.
Several opponents claimed this suddenly just popped up and that not all segments of the community had been heard from. Council Member Terry Urban corrected them, saying it’s been in the works for six months. He said it took city attorneys two months to vet and draft a proposed amendment. He said there was a full set of hearings before the city’s human relations board. He says everyone will get a chance to speak before they vote.
Urban, who asked that the amendment be put on the council agenda, says the process isn’t just beginning but finally coming to a proper conclusion. They anticipate their meeting on June 28, when the public hearing will be held, could be a long one.
In the meantime, Strazdas has asked opponents and supporters to submit their questions to the city manager so they can have answers by that meeting.
Kalamazoo voters adopted a similar amendment seven years ago. Since then, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo Township and Oshtemo have adopted similar ordinances that protect the LGBT community from discrimination in housing, employment and accommodation.
Most corporations and major institutions in the area have had similar policies in place for much longer.
City attorneys say they used those examples as models for the ordinance amendment they have drafted for Portage.
