Opponents of Fayetteville's newly adopted anti-discrimination ordinance are considering their options to overturn the measure, including a petition drive to put it before the city's voters.
While all options are still open, Arkansas Family Council Action Committee Executive Director Jerry Cox said a petition drive was the most debated recourse that a group of opponents discussed during a teleconference Thursday about ways to repeal the ordinance that passed Wednesday on a 6-2 vote by the Fayetteville City Council.
About 3 a.m. Wednesday -- and after more than 10 hours of debate -- the council became the first in the state to pass an ordinance extending protection against discrimination based on sexual identity and orientation in areas including employment, housing, businesses and public accommodations. In doing so, the city joined nearly 200 other municipalities and counties across the country that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
The Arkansas Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union called the council's action necessary.
"It's perfectly legal to fire someone because of sexual orientation in Arkansas," ACLU Executive Director Rita Sklar has said. "I hope it motivates other municipalities to pass the same ordinance once people see there's nothing to fear."
While state and federal laws prohibit the hiring, firing and eviction of people based on age, gender, national origin, race, religion or disability, they don't include protection for sexual identity or orientation, the ACLU said.
Arkansas is one of more than 25 states that do not have those protections.
The city's ordinance is supposed to fill that gap, Fayetteville City Attorney Kit Williams said. Fayetteville's law will also include protection from discrimination based on ethnicity, gender expression, familial status, marital status, socioeconomic background and veteran status.
The law, which becomes effective Sept. 20, would affect all city employees and contractors who do business with the city. It exempts federal, state or county offices, along with public educational institutions in the city. The law also excludes religious or denominational institutions, unless part or all of the institution is supported by public funding, and will not require unisex bathrooms.
Just hours after the law's passage, those opposing it sprang into action.
On Thursday, they looked at all their options: They can begin circulating petitions to place the measure on a special-election ballot to repeal the law, challenge the ordinance in court or attempt to change the City Council's makeup through the coming election or recall.
The petition drive was the most popular during the conference call Thursday, Cox said. Approximately 15 people took part in the call, including representatives with the Family Research Council; attorneys; church leaders; and state Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville.
Williams is working on a memorandum that he will send to Mayor Lioneld Jordan and the eight-member City Council to explain "all the issues" and to make clear the correct procedures the opposing groups may take, along with the deadlines to challenge the ordinance.
The petitions would have to include the ordinance, so voters will know what the canvassers are seeking to overturn, Williams said. Jordan and the city clerk will likely sign the ordinance today, after returning from the Arkansas Municipal League conference in Jonesboro, he said.
If the opponents move forward with the petition drive, they will have to gather signatures from 15 percent of registered voters in the city, or about 4,100. They would have until Sept. 22 to turn over the necessary signatures to the city clerk's office, and then the office will verify whether the signatures are valid.
"That is an arduous process," Williams said of the verification.
If the city clerk certifies that they have enough signatures, the measure will go to the ballot and voters can decide whether to keep or discard the anti-discrimination ordinance.
Before the ordinance passed Wednesday, Alderman Justin Tennant proposed placing the ordinance on the Nov. 4 ballot, but the council voted against it, according to the Northwest Arkansas Times. Fayetteville residents voted on a similar measure in a 1998 referendum, striking the Human Dignity resolution, which would have added familial status and sexual orientation to the city's anti-discrimination policy for municipal employees.
Stephanie Nichols, a Jonesboro-area attorney who is representing several Fayetteville citizens and about 12 churches, said Thursday that she wanted to consult with her clients before deciding how to move forward. Some of her clients, including business owners, have asked her to look into the petition drive.
Some of her clients say the ordinance violates their First Amendment rights, Nichols said.
The ordinance includes a provision that governs how churches can hire, she said. Other concerns centered on gender identity and orientation.
Nichols said the law takes away discretion from churches or individual businesses. There are several case-by-case situations in which people exercising their constitutional rights can find themselves violating the new law, she said.
The law allows the mayor to designate a civil-rights administrator who will receive, investigate and resolve discriminatory complaints.
Anyone found to violate the law will be subject to up to a $500 fine, although city codes say repeated offenses could cost up to $250 per day.
That could do serious damage to some businesses, such as a wedding photographer who refuses to work for gay couples, Nichols said.
Cox, the Family Council leader, said some Fayetteville residents are forming a local opposition group but are still organizing. The group's success "hinges on what happens in the churches," Cox contended, adding that churches can circulate a petition throughout their congregations.
"I am optimistic that they will get the signatures to be placed on the ballot," he said. "The momentum rests with those who oppose the ordinance since it will be a special election."
Metro on 08/22/2014