A debate brewing in Springfield for over 30 months will come to a head April 7.
The public will have its say at the polls through an initiative petition calling for the repeal of the controversial ordinance that pits business owners’ rights to exercise religious freedoms against pleas for fairness in public dealings.
“It is a very difficult question,” said City Attorney Dan Wichmer, noting he understands arguments on both sides of the divisive issue. “One, you have a constitutionally protected right to exercise your religion. And two, are you going to allow discrimination based on characteristics of people?”
At the center of the debate is whether business and property owners in the city have the right not to rent to, employ or provide products or services to people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Federal laws dating back 50 years have prohibited discrimination in the workplace based on race, color, religion, sex, age or national origin.
In August 2012, the issue of extending the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance to residents based on sexual orientation and gender identity was introduced at City Council. The measure was tabled following heated debate before council members took it up again last fall and voted 6-3 on Oct. 13 to approve one of two proposed SOGI ordinances.
Yes or noSpringfieldians are largely divided on whether the Queen City should have taken a stand in favor of extending protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. And two organized groups represent the divide: Yes on Question 1, proponents of the repeal, and No Repeal SGF, opponents who support the existing nondiscrimination ordinance.
Organizers have been busy in early March garnering support for their positions.
No Repeal SGF collected 117 business supporters as of press time, according to
NoRepealSGF.org. A kickoff event for Yes on Question 1 earlier this month at the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Oasis Convention Center drew about 80 attendees, Yes on Question 1 spokesman Calvin Morrow said.
From an economic development standpoint, Meridian Title Co. owner Randy Doennig said many national companies already have policies in place supporting sexual diversity, and if residents repeal SOGI, they could be stunting the city’s business growth.
“If Springfield wants to be competitive in the 21st century on an economic level, we have to have a culture in the city that is like the culture in the business community,” said Doennig, who’s been openly gay since 1998, suggesting Springfield model its ordinances after Fortune 500 company policies inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity.
“I think that we have a disconnect, if we don’t look like them. How would a business that says it is supportive of these types of employees send them to a place that isn’t supportive of them and have protections for them?”
A handout produced by the Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights identifies AT&T Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Kraft Foods Inc., McKesson Corp., Target Corp., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Waste Management Inc. among businesses with SOGI nondiscrimination policies with employees in Springfield.
Representing business owners with religious convictions favoring a repeal, Morrow said many of them have avoided standing up publicly on the issue.
“The Christian businessmen who are for the repeal are terrified, completely terrified to go public. They fear the retribution and the publicity,” said Morrow, executive director of Christian political advocacy group Christians Uniting for Political Action. “They don’t have the media that they feel will give them their just due.”
He said the law as written gives too much power to the Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights to investigate claims of discrimination.
The Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights is structured as a volunteer advisory panel that Wichmer said has limited power with regard to SOGI. The commission is set up to offer mediation in instances where it believes the law has been violated, and if that’s refused, it can only recommend prosecution through the municipal court.
“Once it gets to the municipal court, then all the criminal protections afforded under the Constitution would go to that business,” Wichmer said, noting fines for violations go up to $1,000 for those convicted of a violation by the municipal court.
“This has been done all over the country, and the net effect of this law is that Christians are being targeted to do things they wouldn’t normally do (such as) support same-sex weddings,” Morrow said.
The organization’s website,
YesOnQuestion1.net, points to cases in New York and Lexington, Ky., among others, where similar laws have harmed businesses owned by Christians.
“Christians are losing property and businesses and face fines,” Morrow said. “Christians are being asked to violate their consciences.”
Small-business perspectivesDick Hardy, owner of Springfield-based pastoral-leadership consultancy The Hardy Group, helped lead the petition effort that put Question 1 on the ballot. Hardy said gay rights supporters are aggressive in their pursuit and that might be why businesses owned by Christians and others are not as vocal.
“Nobody is going to lose money for speaking out, but the opposition, it’s an intimidating group,” Hardy said.
No Repeal SGF supporters include architect and Springfield school board member Tim Rosenbury of Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc., former Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce chairman Jeff Schrag of Mother’s Brewing Co. and attorney and developer Stephanie Stenger Montgomery of Springfield Land LP.
For Stephen Brock, owner of Springfield-based Sunnyland Travel Center and supporter of No Repeal SGF, the issue is about fairness in the marketplace and equal rights.
“It doesn’t make sense to be able to discriminate against somebody on any level for the way they are and who they are,” Brock said. “I think that extends to all levels of society.
“That’s the same thing as a country club not allowing Jewish people because they’re Jewish or a restaurant not wanting to serve African Americans.”
At the crux of the issue for Hardy is the belief that homosexuality and gender-identity issues represent developed behaviors, which distinguishes from those communities that fought for equality based on race, gender and age.
“It’s a rather contemporary thing to think that homosexuality is a right behavior,” Hardy said. “Whether it’s right or wrong, what’s wrong with this is that I’m made to be a criminal for holding to my position.”
Hardy said if the SOGI ordinance isn’t repealed, there would be implications for small-business owners, which represents the majority of Springfield companies.
“It just puts one more layer of bureaucracy in there that you have to navigate as a business owner,” Hardy said. “It’s terrible for small business. You have small mom-and-pop businesses out there, and they just want to go about their business employing the kinds of people that resonate with them, and this ordinance says, ‘You can’t do that.’”
Wichmer said it’s a gray area whether the city law violates religious liberties.
“In Hobby Lobby v. Burwell, (the U.S. Supreme Court) said religious practices have to be accommodated. They didn’t come out and really clarify more than that,” Wichmer said, adding he feels the issue will play out legally across the country before any lawsuit that could challenge the ordinance here would be settled.
As far as SOGI’s status, Wichmer said the extension of the ordinance was suspended once the opposition had sufficient signatures to force City Council to repeal or put the measure on the ballot.
At the end of the day, it’s a weighty issue.
“What are you going to do?” Wichmer said.
