Anti-Fairness Bill Anticipated

The local governments of Covington, Louisville, and Lexington are responsible for creating the only places in Kentucky where gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender residents are included in human rights protections. The local Fairness Ordinances in those communities make it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, and other areas.

Since 2000, extremists in the legislature have introduced the Anti-Fairness Bill, a measure that would take away those protections from LGBT people (Download a Fact Sheet).

Despite the fact that nearly 3/4 of Kentuckians know it's wrong to discriminate against LGBT people at work*, the anti-fairness industry has created a climate in Frankfort where attacks like this against LGBT people are acceptable, even advantageous for some lawmakers.

For years advocates for LGBT Kentuckians have lobbied against and successfully defeated every attempt to roll back the local Fairness Ordinances. Last year no less than three separate measures were introduced, two of which were constitutional amendments.

There is no reason to believe extremists like Joe Fischer (R-Ft. Thomas) and Stan Lee (R-Lexington) will give up their strategy of attacking LGBT Kentuckians and their families. They have been the lead co-sponsors to Anti-Fairness bills for six years running and will likely take the issue up again.

During that time support for the local ordinances has solidified, and the call to include LGBT Kentuckians in human rights protections through the Statewide Fairness Bill has grown. Now more than ever, introducing the Anti-Fairness Bill is a political maneuver—a way for extremists, beholden to special interests, to ignore the will of a majority of Kentuckians.

*1999 Decision Research statewide poll showed 73% of Kentuckians oppose discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace.