The Owensboro Human Relations Commission has received at least two formal housing-related complaints from the LGBTQ community since the beginning of 2019.
OHRC Executive Director Kaitlin Nonweiler said her the commission provides protections for a myriad of classes, including race, religion, national origin and familial status, but the LGBTQ community isn’t protected against discrimination under the government agency.
“Anytime they make a complaint, it goes unrepresented,” Nonweiler said. “We don’t receive what I’d call a lot of complaints from the LGBTQ community because they aren’t a protected class. They wonder, ‘Should I report this and relive the trauma?’ So a lot of them probably don’t report [the discrimination they experience].”
One of those non-reported cases has been circulating on social media.
The post claims that a religious sect in Owensboro told a man he couldn’t rent a property owned by the church due to his sexual orientation. The man, who identified himself as gay, questioned the legality of the situation, while others who shared the post said situations like this point to the need for a fairness ordinance in Owensboro.
A fairness ordinance extends broad protections, preventing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the areas of employment, housing and public accommodations. Ten Kentucky cities have enacted fairness ordinances, including nearby Henderson.
In 2014, the idea of enacting a fairness ordinance was brought to the Owensboro city commission, but it was rejected.
Nonweiler said her commission has been trying to get a fairness ordinance passed, having gone to both the city and county to do so.
“Recently, they’ve said they haven’t passed it because it’s unnecessary, and they haven’t seen any discrimination against the LGBTQ community,” she said. “I feel that it’s necessary. For them to pass this ordinance tells the community, ‘We value you as citizens, and we want to put this measure in place to protect you.’ Just to be proactive.”
Now, the idea is circulating again, and several members of the community believe Owensboro needs a fairness ordinance.
City commissioner Jeff Sanford was on the board when the 2014 request to pass a fairness ordinance was rejected, and now Sanford said the local government would want to see proof of the discrimination experienced by the LGBTQ community before passing an ordinance.
“I met with them probably six or seven years ago when they came to talk to the board. If I can get verified, hard-core examples of this discrimination, we need to look at that,” Sanford said. “If we have a problem, we’ll address it. If [the OHRC] has a bunch of complaints, they should take it to the city.”
Sanford said he can’t bring an ordinance to the table “just to make people feel good.”
“It’s hard to legislate someone to be nice to someone else,” Sanford said. “Is that going to change someone’s heart? You can’t change people from being bigots. But if we can verify some stuff — then absolutely. Do we have an issue here locally with these kinds of problems? It’s hard to determine.”
As a realtor himself, Sanford said he would never think of questioning or bringing up someone’s sexual preference, so it’s hard for him to imagine anyone else would do that either.
“You can’t treat people unfairly,” Sanford said. “You can’t not rent to them based on their [sexual preference]. I can’t fathom asking someone that. I believe everyone should be treated fairly and with respect.”
Nonweiler said that, if a religious organization did prevent someone from renting a house, there are fair housing laws, however, they have one big exception — nonprofits can control to who they rent. Organizations that receive federal funding cannot discriminate.
Owensboro resident Antoine Smith-Rouse, a gay man who is in favor of a local fairness ordinance, said the LGBTQ community should be protected on a federal level but, since that hasn’t happened, a local fairness ordinance is the next best thing.
“I think it’s sad that we need to have a fairness ordinance at a local level,” he said. “However, since we are not protected on a national level, I believe Owensboro should do the right thing, be on the right side of history and protect us. It has been stated that not ‘enough’ discrimination has happened to warrant a fairness ordinance, but isn’t one act of discrimination one too many?”
