With rights come responsibilities, and if city employees are truly going to be treated the same regardless of their sexual orientation,
the partners of GLBT workers should have to follow the same strict ethics guidelines imposed on spouses of heterosexual employees
of the city. That's just one gay-related proposal being planned by Ald. Tom Tunney during his first year in office.
Tunney said other aldermen have discussed the issue in the past, but they did not want to be perceived as being anti-gay by
bringing it up. Tunney, as the city's first openly gay alderman, is in a perfect position to set the same standards for all city workers.
The idea came to Tunney after he and his staff went through the standard ethics training for city workers. 'The idea is that spouses
have limits as to what they can do with city business. But domestic partners do not have the same standard—there is no standard. If I
had a partner, he would not be under the same scrutiny as a spouse would be. That seems as if we are not treated with the same
level of responsibility. I want an equal playing field. I think it also legitimizes our community—with benefits come equal responsibility.'
Tunney's office is drafting an ordinance on this topic, and will seek input from community members.
Another area of concern for Tunney is healthcare, particularly for companies who do business with the city. San Francisco has
forced businesses who receive city funding to offer the same benefits to both gay and straight employees. However, Tunney wants to
go one step further, requiring businesses to have healthcare coverage for their workers—in addition to providing the same coverage
for gays and non-gays. For example, if a company offers spouse and family coverage for heterosexuals, they would need to do the
same for gays and lesbians.
'We require a living wage, but not health insurance. That question is not even asked,' Tunney said. 'We're not even asking for
100% coverage, but offering access to insurance for your employees.'
A third area Tunney is investigating has to do with 'set-asides' for GLBT businesses. During the 44th Ward campaign, candidate
Rick Ingram suggested that gay businesses be included in a similar way as women and minorities are in set-aside programs. This is
a very controversial topic, especially given that lesbians are already covered as women-owned businesses, and people of color are
covered under minority set-asides.
Has the white gay male business community suffered from discrimination in receiving government contracts? Most gay-owned
businesses doing business at that level are not operating as openly gay-owned companies. Any pattern of discrimination might be
difficult to prove, since for decades these businesses have not been identified as gay businesses.
There are no known studies which have shown bias against gay white male business owners, so these efforts might risk
alienating women and people of color. Nationwide, there have been many studies which show that women and minority businesses
were victims of decades of discrimination in the awarding of government contracts.
This issue is relatively new to the dialogue of gay rights.
'It shocked me, when this came up as a campaign issue,' Tunney said. As a long-time gay business owner, he was not aware of
concerns in this area.
'I am willing to listen to people and work on the issues they want. This issue has not come before me. I would want to make sure it
does not impair our relationship with minority communities, that it does not take over business for minorities and women.'
Tunney added that it is important for the purchasing department of the city to make sure to do outreach to GLBT-owned businesses, to
inform them of economic opportunities.
'I am not here to try and cause division within our own community, or minority communities,' Tunney added. 'I am happy to fight
for our community as far as providing more opportunities for gay- and lesbian-owned businesses, but not at a cost to other minorities.'
One multi-national corporation, in trying to expand its base of vendors to include more diversity, has helped fund the National Gay
and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, whose mission will include acting as an independent certifying body for GLBT businesses. IBM
wants to use more GLBT businesses, but they need some way to indicate who those businesses are—similar to how minority- and
women-owned businesses are certified.
This certification could help when companies and government agencies are looking to diversify their use of outside vendors.