Fayetteville voters OK anti-bias law

Shannon Hix, campaign manager, receives hugs Tuesday from supporters after the announcement Fayetteville’s Uniform Civil Rights Administration ordinance passed at the campaign headquarters of For Fayetteville.
Shannon Hix, campaign manager, receives hugs Tuesday from supporters after the announcement Fayetteville’s Uniform Civil Rights Administration ordinance passed at the campaign headquarters of For Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- In a reversal of a similar special election last year, voters ratified the city's Uniform Civil Rights Protection ordinance Tuesday.

Complete but unofficial results from the Washington County Election Commission are:

For 7,666

Against 6,860

The ordinance is to take effect Nov. 7, provided it withstands a legal challenge from Protect Fayetteville, the group advocating against the law meant to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents.

"I think this says that Fayetteville voters really are fair and inclusive folks," said Kyle Smith, president of For Fayetteville, the group that campaigned for the ordinance. "I think we proved tonight that this is the Fayetteville we all know and love."

The Uniform Civil Rights Protection ordinance prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and places of public accommodation on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It creates a seven-member, City Council-appointed Civil Rights Commission to review complaints. Violators are subject to fines of up to $100 for the first offense.

Lauren Chadwick, after voting Tuesday at Christ's Church, 525 W. 15th St., said the anti-discrimination ordinance is needed.

"I voted for Fayetteville because I'm a member of the LGBT community and we need equal rights just like anybody else," Chadwick said. "I don't want my landlord to kick me out of my rent house because I'm gay. I don't want to lose my job because I'm gay. I don't want to be on a date with my partner and be refused service because of my sexual orientation. That's silly."

Charlie Gilbeau, who cast his ballot at Genesis Church, 205 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., said Tuesday's election was much more straightforward than a Dec. 9 referendum on the previous law, the Civil Rights Administration ordinance, which also sought to offer protections for gays and bisexual and transgender residents.

Gilbeau said he thought the previous referendum, in which residents were asked to vote for or against repeal instead of for or against the ordinance in question, "was obviously worded in an attempt for confusion."

Thirteen more people cast ballots in Tuesday's election than in the Dec. 9 referendum, when nearly 52 percent of the 14,580 residents who voted called for repeal of the earlier anti-discrimination ordinance.

Turnout was 14,593, or 29.4 percent, of the 49,634 residents who were eligible to vote Tuesday.

Even with Tuesday's election result, the future of the Uniform Civil Rights Protection ordinance is unknown.

Protect Fayetteville representatives on Aug. 31 filed a lawsuit seeking to void the ordinance. The group alleged the ordinance was improperly referred to voters at a June 16 City Council meeting. And, they said, the ordinance is illegal under Arkansas Act 137 of 2015, which prohibits cities and counties from enacting or enforcing legislation "that creates a protected classification or prohibits discrimination on a basis not contained in state law."

City Attorney Kit Williams has rebutted the group's claims.

The Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993 prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, gender, national origin and disability but not based on someone's sexual orientation or gender identity. However, sexual orientation and gender identity are referenced in another section of state law that deals with bullying in public schools.

"The protected classifications are certainly there in state law, and, therefore, this is not a new protected classification," Williams said last week. He went on to question whether Act 137 was constitutional under the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment.

Washington County Circuit Judge Doug Martin, as of Tuesday, hadn't set a court date to hear arguments in the case.

Metro on 09/09/2015

Upcoming Events