CC Minutes - 11/12/02 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilor Fart said he would support the amended motion. He stressed that he did not have any ill feeling toward transgendered people but raised concern that predators could enter restrooms under the guise of being transgendered and harm others. Councilor Meisner said he would support the amendment. He said he had talked to as many people as he could regarding the proposed amendments. He said he found the mayor's suggested amendments dealing with the gender identity portions of the proposed code amendments absolutely unacceptable. He stressed that he was not willing to create a second class category of citizens. He said the mayor's suggested amendments reminded him of past laws in Louisiana that defined and regulated people's racial identity as a matter of official action and stressed that he did not want the City to do that kind of business. He acknowledged that none of the council or the writers of the proposed code amendments expected the degree of complexity within the issue of gender identity and urged the Human Rights Commission to undertake as full and lengthy an analysis as was undertaken for domestic partnership. Councilor Meisner said it had been painful to read some of the e-mail and letters submitted to the council on the issue as well as to listen to some of the comments given during public testimony. He remarked that some of the comments had been inappropriate since the world was seeing religion being misused for intolerance and terrorist purposes in other portions of the world. He said he would support the amendment and enthusiastically support the amended motion. He added he would look forward to other amendments in the future after more analysis from the Human Rights Commission. Councilor Pap~ commented on the difficulty of the issue. He reiterated that no one expected the complexity of the gender identity issue. He expressed his dismay with some of the public testimony received on the issue as well as telephone calls and e-mail he had received, saying that they did not show the kind of tolerance and diversity that the community was known for. He commented that respect could not be legislated but protection could be. He said he would support the amendment. Councilor Bettman expressed her agreement with Councilor Kelly's statements but said she had come to a different conclusion. She said she could not support the suggested amendments from Mayor Torrey. She opined that the amendments suggested by the mayor and others practically criminalized transgendered individuals and definitely ostracized them. She said she would also not support the current amendment. Councilor Bettman said the City Council was not the arbiter of moral absolutes or of religious values. She stressed that the council was there to ensure all citizens have basic human and civil rights. She said that concept was not negotiable. She said removing a specific segment of the population from the Human Rights Code amendments was unacceptable. She raised a concern that if the issue were not dealt with at that time then it would never get addressed. Councilor Rayor commented on the complexity of the gender identity issue. He said it would be good governance to do more research on that particular issue. He expressed his support for the rest of the proposed code revisions. Regarding domestic partnership registry, Councilor Rayor commented that he was thinking about himself extending benefits to a person he was not married to but with whom he maintained a strong relationship. He noted that, in the current tax climate, it was to the financial advantage of MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 12, 2002 Page 9 Regular Meeting