10 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Unanimous

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Department,

ordinance further.

weakening

the

Sweeney's amendments were opposed by LGBT interest groups, but opposition was dropped by some groups who feared the ordinance would not pass without them.

At the committee meeting, councilors protested that they had not seen Sweeney's changes until right before the meeting, which is a departure from normal protocol.

The new amendments added "bathrooms" to a section that exempted locker rooms and showers from certain parts of the measure.

Ask Cleveland opposed the last-minute changes, and had six volunteers at City Hall all day opposing them. Two with the group were staffers with the AIDS Taskforce of Cleveland, assigned to work with Ask Cleveland to oppose the amendments.

"Our objective was to stop [Sweeney]'s amendment once it was clear what it was," said Ask Cleveland spokesperson David Caldwell.

"We wanted to ensure that proper restroom access was preserved in the ordinance in public accommodations and employment," Caldwell continued.

Other ordinance supporters, a coalition of the LGBT Center, Equality Ohio, TransFamily Cleveland and TransOhio, were also not pleased with the amendments. They did not protest, fearing that the measure would not pass.

Coalition members also spent the day meeting with council members, making phone calls and securing a turnout of over 75 supporters to witness the vote that evening.

The coalition relied on the advice of Ward 13 Councilor Joe Cimperman, who became the lead council negotiator for the ordinance following Santiago's electoral defeat.

"This is Chapter One," Cimperman said, "This piece can continue to evolve."

ticke

December 4, 2009

'Reasonable' access

•

www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

The amendments in question essentially leave transgender people with only partial protection in public accommodations, especially restrooms.

BRIAN DEWITT

"Tonight, we celebrate the life of the L, G, B, and T community," councilor Joe Cimperman told council just before the measure passed unanimously.

This has no effect on protection in housing. Employment, however, is less clear, as employers only have to provide "reasonable access to adequate facilities . . .”

It doesn't specify what constitutes "reasonable" nor "adequate," leaving the possibility that a transitioning person could be made to use a facility that is inconvenient or even off the premises, should their employer decide it is "reasonable" and "adequate."

The amendments also expressly make it possible for transgender people to be discriminated against as Karen Deamons was in 2008 when she was ordered to use the men's dressing room and sign in as a man at the city-owned Cudell Recreation Center swimming pool.

Cudell, built in 1964, has privacy stalls in the women's changing room but none in the men's. Deamons was barred from the

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facility for a time for defying a manager's orders and entering the women's area.

At the time, Cleveland Law Director Robert Triozzi told the Chronicle "The city of Cleveland approaches with regard to its recreational centers and all its business a sense of fairness. We try to accommodate all people regardless of the issue.”

Deamons, who helped Ask Cleveland collect postcards for the measure, has a complaint pending against the city before the Ohio Civil rights Commission.

The Law Department's earlier amendments allow situations like this to continue until someone successfully sues the city or other public accommodation and gets a judge to say that such treatment is either unreasonable or that the accommodation is inadequate.

The Law Department has refused to talk to the Chronicle despite numerous attempts since September regarding their motive for insisting on this language.

Chief assistant director of law Ronda Curtis testified before the Finance Committee, but again refused to speak to a reporter. The Law Department cannot amend an ordinance without the blessing of the spon-

sors.

In this case, none of the sponsors objected to the changes, though all who were asked, said it was the Law Department's idea to make the changes.

Partner benefits to come up in spring

Joining Santiago as sponsors were Cimperman, Jay Westbrook of Ward 18, Michael Polensek of Ward 11, Matt Zone of Ward 17, and Brian Cummins of Ward 15.

Cimperman said that in the spring, council can take up LGBT issues again, beginning with domestic partner benefits for city employees, then essentially correcting the transgender ordinance by removing the amendments and adding protection in public accommodations.

Cimperman said passing the less-desirable version was the only way to get enough votes for passage.

"I'm not one to make the perfect the enemy of the good," Cimperman said.

According to Cimperman and Sweeney, there were last-minute protests from councilors who began raising concerns around "bathroom issues."

It's not clear when this shift occurred, but as recently as ten days before the vote, Cimperman claimed to have 14 votes for passage in its earlier form. Eleven of the 21 council members can pass an ordinance.

Coalition spokesperson Sue Doerfer said, "I wasn't counting the votes, but there appeared to be internal stuff happening in council.”

In August, the Gay People's Chronicle asked all 21 councilors if they would support the measure in its current form. Only ten responded to the written survey. Eight committed to vote for the measure.

Cimperman, Doerfer and other coalition members signed a letter questioning the methodology of the Chronicle's count, which appeared in the September 11 issue.

By November 9, Ask Cleveland, which asked each councilor individually, was reporting a similar result.

"People's support is always in flux," Cimperman responded to a question about it in writing. "Vote-counting is always tenuous."

"There were conversations happening that were making Cimperman and Sweeney unsure of the vote count," said Doerfer.

Doerfer said there was resistance to the ordinance without Sweeney's amendment coming from conservative pastors, and that she and other coalition members made phone calls.

"It helped, but didn't do enough to get it passed," Doerfer said.

Doerfer said the coalition dropped objections to the last-minute amendments for fear of the ordinance not passing.

"When the amendment was brought up, we did all we could to get it out except kill the legislation," Doerfer said.

Ask Cleveland spokesperson David Caldwell, nonetheless, called the unanimous passage of the ordinance "a turning point in the way we pass LGBT legislation in this city."

"The game has changed for LGBT rights in Cleveland. For too long, LGBT community leaders have treated members of the LGBT rights community like sports fansasking supporters to show up and cheer when good things happen. We don't believe sitting in the bleachers is good enough--we're giving supporters an opportunity to get on the field and play," said Caldwell.

Ask Cleveland said they made 6,000 phone calls to solicit support for the ordinance and presented members of council with 2,600 postcards of support from every ward, and volunteers met with every member of council.

"We know that to obtain the comprehensive protections for transgender people available in other Ohio cities, we would need to do an even better job helping members of council and the public to understand the issues facing transgender Clevelanders," Caldwell said.

"I am thrilled with the unanimous vote against discrimination in any form," said Doerfer. "The coalition has spent the past year meeting with every council person, providing education, offering discussion panels with transgender individuals and helping council understand the reality facing transgender people's lives."

"We will continue to do this work, Doerfer added, "ensuring full protections for all LGBT people in Cleveland."

Cimperman said the ordinance should be corrected by March.

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