Demanding Justice at the Next Level

by Christina Gilgor, KFA Executive Director

National civil rights leader Evan Wolfson calls what we do the "scary work of winning." I love that phrase, because it validates and inspires simultaneously. Being a leader, taking center stage, isn't always convenient, comfortable, or easy.

Still, nearly 500 of you wrote letters urging the Governor to veto $11 million set aside to fund a private, discriminatory school. Many of you included personalized stories and passionate pleas for fairness.

On April 12, we delivered those letters to the governor. At the time, a veto did not seem very likely. Twelve days later, on April 24, the general consensus was that a veto was indeed likely.

What changed? Five hundred people expressed their voice. It wasn’t a huge political or financial entity, such as the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, or the Attorney General’s office. It was individual Kentucky voices. It was you!

And when Gov. Fletcher failed in his constitutional obligation to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” your voices fueled our momentum. You gave us the courage to file a legitimate suit that fully and fairly addresses ALL the constitutional problems with funding a religious, discriminatory school. You empowered us to expose the governor’s suit for the sham that it is.

At the budget press conference, the governor painted himself as a disinterested party, simply seeking an opinion from the Courts. Seems reasonable enough...

However, the Governor’s suit requests that the Court find the $11 million for the University of the Cumberlands to be constitutional and not in violation of Section 189, which states:

No portion of any fund or tax now existing, or that may hereafter be raised or levied for educational purposes, shall be appropriated to, or used by, or in aid of, any church, sectarian or denominational school.

Seems pretty clear, but the governor’s office contends the word “school” may not apply to college-level institutions and thus the funding should be allowed.

The fact that the institution in question just expelled a student solely because he is gay was, predictably, not addressed.

Worse, the defendants in Fletcher's action are state employees over whom he has direct control – hardly the adversarial relationship necessary for a full review of the facts.

Our suit seeks to block the $11 million funding, based on four state constitutional issues.

Section 2 of our state constitution provides: “Absolute and arbitrary power over the lives, liberty and property of freemen exists nowhere in a republic, not even in the largest majority.”

Section 3 declares that all people who form a social compact are equal, and no exclusive privileges shall be made to any individual or group of people, except in consideration of public services.

Clearly, providing $1 million in tuition reimbursement to students at the University of the Cumberlands grants exclusive privileges to certain Kentuckians. Can you imagine telling your child he or she cannot apply for a state tuition reimbursement program because he or she is not a member of the majority, heterosexual population?

Section 5 of the constitution requires that no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious sect. Further, it forbids the state from compelling its residents to "contribute to the erection or maintenance of any such place."

Section 5 also provides that "the civil rights, privileges, or capacities of no person shall be taken away...on account of his belief or disbelief of any religious tenet, dogma, or teaching. No human authority shall, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience."

Requiring me, as a lesbian and a taxpayer, to fund a private sectarian school that slams its doors on people like me ABSOLUTELY interferes with my right of conscience and CERTAINLY diminishes my civil rights!

And then there’s Section 189, which we believe must include primary, secondary, post-secondary, graduate, technical, and professional schools – that is, ALL schools! The framers did not differentiate; neither should we.

We wouldn't be here had it not been for your commitment to the “scary work of winning.” Within minutes after the governor shirked his responsibility to protect the constitution, your e-mails started coming in, asking, "What can I do now?"

Now, you can help us press even harder for a statewide Fairness law. You can talk to your friends and neighbors as well as your elected officials about fairness for all.

Be visible. Attend your local Pride events. Volunteer for a shift at one of our tables, where we'll encourage folks to join us in the fight for a statewide Fairness law. This is only the beginning. Together we can create a fair Kentucky.

In Solidarity,
Christina Gilgor

P.S. Our very own Casey Willits has left Kentucky to take care of some unfinished business at the University of Arkansas. When I first met Casey, I knew Kentucky Fairness Alliance had made quite a find. Casey is bright, energetic, committed to the cause, and adorable – what’s not to like? We miss him already, and we wish him the absolute best!