The Orbis

Photo by Ayumi Fukuda / Orbis Demonstrators showed their support earlier this year for a bill that would protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation. [Click to enlarge]

The Nashville Metropolitan Council voted on April 1 to reject a proposed ordinance that would have barred discrimination based on sexual orientation in the metropolitan government's employment practices.

The ordinance, which would not have applied to private firms, failed by a vote of 18 to 19. Vice Mayor Howard Gentry cast the deciding vote after the initial call ended in a tie.

The measure would have been largely symbolic, containing no penalties for Metro employers who violated the ordinance and only limited recourse for individuals who alleged they had suffered discrimination. Prior to the meeting, it had been approved three to two by the council's human relations commission.

Member-at-large Chris Ferrell, the resolution's primary sponsor and a graduate of Vanderbilt Divinity School, gave an impassioned plea for passage.

"There's something I believe very deeply, and that is that discrimination is wrong," Ferrell told the council. "If somebody is working for this government, then they should be judged only on how well they do their job.... We all have a right to be treated fairly, and that's what this bill is about."

However, a majority of the council apparently did not agree with Ferrell. Carolyn Baldwin Tucker, the only member-at-large who voted against the proposal, told the council that the proposal was going beyond tolerance. "That's saying I have to accept this lifestyle," she said.

Tucker also expressed fear that homosexuals already employed by Metro Parks or the school system would be able to "demonstrate their lifestyle in dress" while on the job if the proposal were to be passed.

"Our children do not deserve to have this bill passed," she said.

Earlier this week, Brenda Gilmore, director of mail services at Vanderbilt and council member for District One, was among those who voted against the ordinance. She said that as a black woman, she is aware of the hardship that is associated with discrimination. Despite hearing from a number of Vanderbilt students and people in the GLBT community in support of the proposal, she said of the bill, "It proved too divisive to offer so little. It would offer no relief at all." Despite her opposition to this bill, Gilmore left open the possibility of voting favorably on future non-discrimination legislation.

"When the right piece of legislation is presented, I feel like I can be more supportive of it," she said.

The April 1 meeting attracted a near-capacity crowd, divided roughly equally between supporters and opponents of the measure, to the council chambers.

Many supporters, including several Vanderbilt students, wore buttons emblazoned with only the word "yes," while opponents wore "no" buttons.

One young child sitting with his parents wore a number of stickers opposing the ordinance, with messages including "Keep the bad people out of schools." Before the council meeting, a lone opponent of the measure stood on the courthouse steps, greeting people with shouted biblical verses as they arrived for the council meeting.

Last Tuesday was the bill's second reading; had it passed, it still would have had to survive a third vote before becoming law.

The ordinance was intended to replace a more far-reaching resolution Ferrell proposed earlier this year. That ordinance would have outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation and disabled individuals in employment or housing practices by any public or private entity in Nashville. It was withdrawn last month after it became apparent that there was not adequate support for passage among council members.

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