Other HRC Developments:

HRC Thank You's

Read the Full Ordinance as a PDF

Council Votes 6-1 for ordinance 2/26/02

Council tables HRC ordinance again, but... 1/8/02

HRC has first reading by County Council on 12/18/01

HRC withdraws plan to de-fund HRC 11/27/01

Joint Council/HRC Meeting 9/28/01

HRC reaffirms recommendation to include Sexual orientation 9/10/01

HRC Agrees to Review Inclusion of Sexual Orientation Despite Pressure by County Council 8/13/01

County Council Tables Hearing of Proposed Ordinance 3/6/01

HRC Unanimously Votes to Include Sexual Orientation 1/29/01

HRC Ordinance FAQ's

How to Contact County Council

Sample Letters to Council Members

HRC recommends to Include Sexual Orientation to County Council 9/10/01

by Mike Miller 9/10/01

After much wrangling, the Erie County Human Relations Commission (HRC) decided today to recommend for vote by County Council a version of local ordinance including sexual orientation as a class protected against discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. Now it remains entirely up to Erie County Council whether or not to vote for the ordinance in a future session.

It is currently scheduled that there will be a joint meeting of the HRC and Erie County Council the morning of Friday, September 28 at 9 AM at the Erie County Courthouse. The next HRC meeting after that will be Monday, October 8 at 4:30 PM. County Council may vote on the HRC ordinance at their meeting October 9. Our attendance and participation is VERY important. All of these meetings are in Council Chambers at the Erie County Courthouse, 140 W 6th St, Erie PA, Room 119.

A dozen members of the public, almost all in favor of the measure, were in attendance at today's (9/10/01) meeting as was the HRC's advisory Board and County Councilman Joe Giles. Out of the 7 commissioners that attended the meeting, only one dissenting vote was cast (Wilfredo Velez). The meeting was covered by a reporter from the Erie Times News and Channel 35 News who interviewed Commission Chair William McCarthy and a representative of PFLAG Mildred Vanderhoof. (Read the Times News story).

During the course of the meeting, it was made very clear that the decision was a difficult and emotionally charged one for many of the commissioners. Commission Chair McCarthy voiced his intent to support the measure, but uncertainty as to the most politically expedient means to get the measure passed. At stake, the funding and very existence of the commission. County Council members have gone on record in the Times News as not being in support of inclusion of sexual orientation in local ordinance, and all but one (Mark DiVecchio) of those Council Members in attendance at a March 6th meeting voted to table the ordinance without hearing it. If Council were to table the ordinance again, local law would not allow the issue to be heard again for six months which would put the Human Relations Commission beyond its deadline for funding. It could be disbanded.

Previous to voting, the HRC heard a statement from its advisory board read by Reid McFarlaine. In the statement, McFarlaine listed the objections voiced by County Council Chair James Terrill during an ad hoc meeting of select members of the HRC and Council. Some of the objections included vagaries of language and powers of the commission. Most of those had been cleared up by simple revisions of typographical errors and by citations to HUD recommendations and existing state law. But the vast majority of the objections, at least according to Terrill, stemmed from inclusion of the sexual orientation clause. It should be noted that the objections voiced by Terrill may or may NOT represent the beliefs/assessments of other Council members). But, because of the objections voiced at this ad hoc meeting with Terrill, the advisory board suggested that the HRC vote to pass the ordinance in a two-pronged approach by first getting the ordinance itself passed without the sexual orientation language so that the commission would not lose its funding, and then later seeking to amend the ordinance to include the sexual orientation clause.

At this point the floor was opened for comment at which time Council member Giles was asked to speak by Commissioner Mary Ann McDanniels-Kulesa. Councilman Giles more than once made it clear that there had been no discussions of any kind about the sexual orientation clause by council members in any official capacity, and that the will of Council members was therefore not known. He also suggested that the Commission should submit its recommendations according to their conscience without any changes or amendments and trust the Council to make the right decision - leaving it to Council to decide if anything should be omitted or amended to the ordinance as originally proposed including sexual orientation.

At this, a vote was called and the Commission voted to include the sexual orientation clause. A member of the viewing public thanked the commission and Mr. Giles for making their views clear and doing their best to execute a difficult decision.

There is good reason to believe that Mr. Giles' words/actions may have been influenced by the calling of a Press Conference the previous Saturday by PFLAG-Erie/Crawford President Maureen Koseff "...as a wake-up call to alert the people of Erie County to the fact that a fair and just Human Relations Commission Ordinance is in jeopardy." During the press conference covered by the Times News and Channel 12, statements were issued from local chapters of PFLAG, the ACLU, NOW, the Erie Green Party, Temple Anshe Hesed, as well as personal statements of the need for inclusion of the sexual orientation clause from a member of Behrend's GLBT student group TRIGON, a Benedictine nun, and a health care professional and mother. (Read the Times News Article.)

The decision by the HRC to recommend the sexual orientation clause is a victory to GLBT people in Erie county, but by no means the end of the war. We all need to make a point to phone and write county council to vote for the ordinance including the sexual orientation clause. We need to show up and be prepared tp speak during the public comment period at the Council meeting in which the ordinance will be heard, and then voted upon. And we need to also show our support of those Council Members and Commission Members that have supported our cause by simply saying thank you and well done. If you're not sure how to contact County Council or the Erie Human Relations Commission try browsing here or send us an email and we can either give you correct contact info or pass your words along. Also if you want to send thanks to Maureen Koseff for organizing the press conference, click here.

Thank you, and keep thinking/working/hoping for this very positive and much needed change in local legislation.

© Erie Gay News