Charter Amendment One (Gainesville, Florida)

Charter Amendment One was a citizen led referendum defeated in Gainesville, Florida's city election on March 24, 2009. Titled the "Amendment to the City Charter Prohibiting the City from Providing Certain Civil Rights", the measure would remove the legal protections not explicitly covered under the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992, specifically with reference to sexual orientation and gender identity.[2]

Amendment 1
Amendment to the City Charter Prohibiting the City from Providing Certain Civil Rights
Results
Response
 Votes %
Yes 8,382 41.67%
No 11,732 58.33%
Valid votes 20,114 99.42%
Invalid or blank votes 118 0.58%
Total votes 20,232 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 75,219 26.9%
Source: Alachua County Supervisor of Elections[1]

The amendment was a key issue of debate in the elections and attracted national attention to social controversies in Gainesville, Florida that continued through the mayoral election in 2010.

The amendment was viewed as a test of LGBT rights in Florida following the passage of Florida Amendment 2 which banned same-sex unions the previous year.

History

In January 2008, the Gainesville City Commission narrowly voted to add gender identity to the list of protected groups in its city discrimination ordinance.[3] Gainesville's discrimination ordinance forbids discrimination in access to public accommodation, housing, credit and employment for ten different categories.[4]

Sexual orientation was briefly added as a protected category on the county level in April 1993 with 3 out of 5 county commissioners supporting it, but was later overturned by citizen referendum in the fall elections of 1994.[5][6] In 1998, the city of Gainesville voted to add sexual orientation to the city discrimination ordinance, a move that was met with little opposition.[7]

The Group Citizens for Good Public Policy organized a campaign to remove both gender identity and sexual orientation from the charter citing fears that loose gender laws would make it easier for men to infiltrate bathrooms designated for women and girls.[8] By July 2008, they had collected enough signatures to place a referendum on the 2009 city ballot.[9]

Campaigns

Both proponents and opponents of the measure had assistance from interest groups. The PAC Citizens for Good Public Policy supported the measure with aid from the Thomas More Law Center, a conservative law centre.

The primary opposition arose from Equality is Gainesville's Business, which had the support of the American Civil Liberties Union.[10]

Political Aftermath

In 2010, Gainesville's mayoral race featured Don Marsh, a conservative who had vocally supported Charter Amendment One and Craig Lowe, a city commissioner who had voted in favor of adding gender identity to the city charter.[11]

A runoff election resulted in Craig Lowe being narrowly elected Gainesvilles's first openly gay mayor by a margin of 42 votes.[12]

To express their opposition to Lowe's campaign, controversial Dove World Outreach Center displayed a sign reading "No homo Mayor" before amending the statement to read "No homo." The sign was modified after warnings that adopting a political stance could cause them to lose their tax-exempt status.[13]

References
  1. "Official Results, Gainesville Regular Election" (PDF). Alachua County Supervisor of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  2. "Sample Ballot, City of Gainesville" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2011. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  3. Gallagher, Katie. "City commission votes to make gender identity discrimination illegal". The Independent Florida Alligator. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  4. "City Discrimination Ordinance". City of Gainesville Office of Equal Opportunity. Archived from the original on October 11, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  5. English, Antonya (April 1, 1993). "Commission's decision greeted with elation, anger". The Gainesville Sun.
  6. Glass, John (November 9, 1994). "Alachua repeals housing, job protection for gays". The News.
  7. Magrin, Jud (June 2, 1998). "City votes to include gay rights". The Gainesville Sun.
  8. "Foes Say Law Protects Predators". The New York Times. January 10, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  9. "Transgender-law challengers submit 8,600 signatures". The Gainesville Sun. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  10. Word, Ron. "Gainesville, Fla., anti-discrimination laws kept". Fox News. Archived from the original on March 26, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2009.
  11. Marsh, Don. "Waiting for the News Media to Show Up". Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  12. Smith, Chad (April 16, 2010). "Lowe and behold! The next mayor of Gainesville". The Gainesville Sun. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  13. Smith, Chad (April 2, 2010). "Church changes 'No homo Mayor' sign to read 'No homo'". The Gainesville Sun. Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
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