Arizona Civil Rights Advisory Board examines LGBT issues

Arizona State Capitol

On Monday June 8, 2009 the Arizona Civil Rights Advisory Board held a meeting to discuss some of the state’s many civil rights issues. The Board gathers information on various issues and takes appropriate action to raise awareness in the community about those issues. One of the issues the board wanted to review was the discrimination Arizonans face based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

According to Melanie Pate, the Executive Director of the Board, the Board plans to focus on three areas,

(1) The fact that sexual orientation and gender identity are not currently protected classes under the Arizona Civil Rights Act.
(2) What impact that lack of civil rights protection has had on the LGBT community in Arizona.
(3) What the Board can do to effectively lobby the State Legislature to add these protected classes to the statute.

The meeting began with Representative Kyrsten Sinema speaking about the discrimination LGBT people face in many areas here in Arizona. Sinema explained to the Board that LGBT is not mentioned in the current Employment Non-Discrimination law. Because of this omission individuals in Arizona can be fired for their sexual orientation, gender identity or perceived sexual orientation. When asked if any legislation had even been introduced in the legislature to provide such protections Rep. Sinema told the Board that such legislation had been introduced each year for the last 10 years, and had never once received a hearing.

Dr. Rebecca “Becky” Allison, President of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) and chair of the American Medical Association Advisory Committee on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Issues also addressed the Board. She spoke about the discrimination LGBT people can face when trying to obtain medical care. She shared a story about a transgendered person that couldn’t find a physician willing to treat them. Once a physician was found the disease had progressed too far and the patient ended up dying.

I had the honor of speaking to the Board about the problems in education. The main focus was on the bullying that students face. Recently, two middle school students in other states hung themselves because they were called gay every day at school. The Board was presented with results from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s 2007 National School Climate Survey. The survey of 6,209 middle and high school students found that nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students experienced harassment at school in the past year, 60% felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and about a third skipped a day of school in the past month because of feeling unsafe. The Board was also made aware of a case of discrimination from earlier this year in the Peoria Unified School District that the ACLU had to get involved with.

I was asked by the Board if current anti-bullying guidelines were not being followed or weren’t effective. I told them, in my opinion, it was both. Part of the reason I feel they are not being followed is people are afraid to lose their jobs. If they are seen “helping the gay kids” then they could be accused of being gay and be fired. I have heard this from teachers before. They are so closeted they are afraid of helping because it might “out” them, so they ignore it. Also, I believe it’s ineffective because people don’t take name calling as serious. Teachers don’t report all incidents and many happen without a teacher being present. This makes it hard to report sometimes. I also informed the Board of HRC’s Welcoming Schools program that helps teach diversity in the elementary schools. This diversity instruction and bully prevention program can help cut down the number of LGBT bullying incidents.

Linda Elliott, Board of Director for the Human Rights Campaign, addressed the Board about Hate Crimes. Arizona does have a hate crime law that protects gays and lesbians but does not include gender identity. Ms. Elliott informed the Board of several instances of violence against the Transgendered community and the need for hate crime protection. She also suggested that the Attorney General should be given the authority to review cases and help determining is cases should be labeled in a hate crime. Sometimes it is difficult for local authorities to make that determination and an independent voice could be helpful. Additional training for local law enforcement was also discussed. The Board was informed of current work being done in Phoenix, Casa Grande, Mesa, and other communities.

The Board will continue to hold meetings on this topic. The Board was wonderful and since the function is to examine and help protect civil rights, this Board is on our side. I do believe they will continue to gather information and do their best to make an impact and support the LGBT community getting protections and equality.