"I favor equal and fair treatment for everyone, regardless of who they are as a person...whether they be a motorcyclist, an ethnic or racial minority, a gay or a lesbian or even a gay or lesbian motorcyclist. I have never been in favor of special treatment for anybody, but I have always been in favor of fairness for everybody."
With that statement, lame duck Illinois Gov. George H. Ryan made a bold move for gay rights last week, the same week he announced he would not seek re-election to the state's top post.
Perhaps as a slap in the face to his own Republican Party's conservatives, who have expressed their disappointment with Ryan's shift to the political center, Ryan used his amendatory veto power to force legislators to address gay-rights legislation this session.
On Aug. 10, Ryan said he would not sign into law House Bill 1039, the Motorcyclist Public Accommodation Act, which would ban bias against motorcyclists in public accommodations, unless the Illinois House includes the category sexual orientation in the bill. In doing so, he also asked legislators to pass the comprehensive measure HB 101, now stalled in the state Senate, that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment and civil transactions, in addition to public accommodations.
Ryan favors the motorcycle law, but said the General Assembly "has omitted a sizable and valuable community of people who are not only refused equal access to areas of public accommodation but are oftentimes harassed, beaten and sometimes even killed," Ryan said in a five-page veto message.
State Rep. Larry McKeon, the only openly gay state elected official, thanked Ryan for his courage in taking a stand for gay rights. Ryan made the decision after members of the General Assembly, and representatives from the lobby group Equality Illinois, made the request in late July. McKeon is chief sponsor of HB 101, which amends the Human Rights Act by adding the term sexual orientation.
Gov. Ryan was not the only man bowing out of a heated race for governor. Glenn Poshard, who four years ago so angered gay and lesbian Democrats and their allies that many voted for Ryan in protest, announced he would not run for the post again. Poshard's anti-gay record was made worse by the fact that he made little effort to mend fences with gay activists once he became the party's nominated candidate.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Rob Blagojevich threw his hat into what is expected to be a very crowded Democratic field. Former Chicago schools superintendent Paul Vallas had already announced his intentions. State Rep. Louis Lang has been exploring the race for two years, and he is expected to announce for office soon. The field is also expected to include former Attorney General Roland Burris, Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine, and Chicago attorney John Schmidt, among others. So far, the only announced Republican candidates are conservatives Attorney General Jim Ryan and state Sen. Patrick O'Malley. If Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood joins the race, she would add a more moderate flavor to the Republican campaign.
The strategy
Some activists have questioned the strategy of connecting gay rights to the motorcycle measure.
Kimberlie Kranich of downstate Champaign praised Ryan for the move, but added that "If the Governor is really an advocate of fair and equal treatment then he should put his political muscle behind House Bill 101, which he is on record as supporting. Eighty-five percent of all Illinois residents support an end to discrimination against gay men and lesbians in employment and housing. A piecemeal approach to human rights is insulting. Nothing but full and equal human rights is acceptable."
Ryan's letter to the general Assembly did detail his overall support of gay rights.
Excerpts from that letter follow:
"I understand that the intent of the General Assembly was not to add protections for motorcyclists to the Illinois Human Rights Act, but rather to insure that Illinois law covers a form of discrimination that exists in our state that is not specifically prohibited under current law. HB 1039 protects an individual's right to travel freely and use places of public accommodation without fearing or suffering arbitrary discrimination by providing a separate statutory scheme to prohibit such discrimination. I believe, however, that this bill requires further change to specifically include and protect a group of individuals whom we all recognize to be the subject of similar and oftentimes more severe forms of discrimination.
"The General Assembly is to be commended for recognizing its responsibility and obligation to protect our citizens from inequity, unfairness and arbitrary discrimination by passing this legislation. This bill is significant because it demonstrates that the 92nd General Assembly has found common ground and reached an overwhelming consensus on a mechanism for protecting certain classes of individuals from discrimination by law, without creating special rights or special privileges. It passed the House and Senate by overwhelming majorities. Some may recall that my previous proposal ( House Bill 101 ) to extend human rights protections to our gay and lesbian citizens, family members, friends, colleagues and acquaintances by amending the Human Rights Act, was rejected by the Senate based primarily on the erroneous rhetoric and mistaken perception that it would provide 'special rights or privileges' to this class of citizens, even though they have suffered historical and unconscionable discrimination. I still believe the General Assembly should pass House Bill 101 in its entirety, but I cannot constitutionally affect the additional protections and guarantees in that bill through an amendatory veto of this one.
"The legislative history of House Bill 1039 shows that the General Assembly clearly intended to establish a separate, stand-alone mechanism that provides criminal and civil protections against discrimination for classes of individuals outside what has previously been recognized under our Human Rights Act and our criminal code. In providing these protections, however, the General Assembly has omitted a sizable and valuable community of people who are not only refused equal access to areas of public accommodation but are often times harassed, beaten and sometimes even killed solely on the basis of their sexual orientation. I'm proud to say that in Illinois we have some of the nation's best hate-crimes laws on the books. However, when it comes to providing equal access to places of public accommodation to all our citizens and ensuring each individual's right to live, work and enjoy life without fear of discrimination, I am ashamed to say that Illinois falls far short of providing for this basic level of civility that so many of us can, and often do, take for granted.
"This bill passed the House and Senate with little testimony. A representative of the motorcyclists' interests testified in support of this bill and presented limited information concerning instances where motorcyclists were purportedly denied access to public accommodations. Without intending to minimize the impact of such discrimination, in good conscience we cannot at the same time simply ignore the documented evidence of discrimination and hate crimes committed against individuals because of their perceived sexual orientation. This month, the city of Chicago issued its most recent hate-crime statistics which again sadly show that the overwhelming number of hate crimes are committed either because of the victim's race or sexual orientation.
"My amendments are also consistent with the General Assembly's actions in passing legislation that prohibits bullying in schools. Earlier this week, I signed this anti-bullying legislation, House Bill 646, into law. It is well known and established that bullying frequently involves forms of sexual harassment. I signed this important legislation knowing that because of discrimination and harassment in schools, our gay and lesbian youth are at least three times more likely to attempt suicide. This is simply an intolerable state of affairs and we must do more to protect them both in and outside our schools.
"There is another reason why I am compelled to urge amendment of this legislation. Communities throughout Illinois have already appropriately recognized that discrimination based on an individual's sexual orientation is wrong and entirely inconsistent with our fundamental concept of democracy and the protections that should be afforded to each and every citizen of this state and this nation. Indeed, our public and private universities have enacted provisions to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. The County of Cook, the cities of Chicago, Champaign, DeKalb, Evanston, LaGrange, Oak Park, and Urbana, among others, have also long since passed ordinances and legislation to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. In fact, three quarters of Illinoisans are already protected by such non-discrimination legislation.
"Because the state has previously failed to prohibit discrimination against individuals because of their sexual orientation, this has created an irrational situation where an individual can be protected from such discrimination where they reside, but must risk losing those protections when they travel to other locales. ...
"It is, and always has been, the duty of any democratic governmental body to equally protect and serve the citizens that fall under its jurisdiction. House Bill 1039 moves the State of Illinois one step closer to that goal by recognizing and prohibiting existing discriminatory practices. However, House Bill 1039, as is, fails to protect a large number of human beings who are in need of this form of protection. And a set of laws that does not offer equal protection against discrimination regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, gender, marital status, handicap, mode of transportation, or sexual orientation does not serve anyone except those who wish to be discriminatory, prejudicial, hateful and intolerant.
"A local politician once said, 'Four score and seven years ago, our forefathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.' That is what I believe also...no more, no less. I choose to stand with a great Republican and Illinois' greatest son, Abraham Lincoln, and I urge you to do likewise."
Those senators who oppose gay rights are not expected to shift their votes simply because of this shift in strategy.
