The 4-3 vote denying
healthcare benefits to same-sex couples by the Lakeland City Commission was a
victory for the LGBTQ community. Yeah, you read that right. That wasn’t a typo.
The vote actually will do more good in the long run for equality than had it passed.
Why? Because now we have a reason to fight. This vote gave a face to
discrimination. And that face looks like Edie Yates, Phillip Walker, HowardWiggs and Mayor Gow Fields. Over the next week I will be writing a series of
letters to the City Commissioners. If you care about equality, I encourage you
to join me.
Dear Commissioner Edie Yates:
Your reasoning for denying equality to LGBTQ city employees
was a copout, plain and simple.
You argued against offering benefits because there was not
“a groundswell of support”. Your job isn’t to do what is
popular, especially when that which is popular involves denying people equal protection
under the law (see the 14th Amendment). Your job is not only to listen
to the majority, but it is especially to look out for the rights’ of the
minority, protecting those rights from being infringed upon. Our representational democracy is what sets us apart from countries
like Syria, and from failed systems like the Bowl Championship Series, where
the little guy never has a shot.
You said you couldn’t vote for it since the request didn’t
come from LGBTQ city employees. Just wondering, if you were part of a minority
group that only had 15% of the rights that heterosexual couples had, and you
faced legal institutional discrimination from everything to being looked over
for a promotion to being legally denied service in a restaurant… if you had to walk in those shoes, would you want your name on a list to be made part of the public record in
Lakeland, Florida?
Another argument you made was that there would be a surge of
people pretending to be gay or lesbian in order to gain health benefits…
really? I can think of a lot of easier ways to get health benefits, one of
which involves going Denzel from the movie John Q. You said the safe guards to
prove a partnership were too easy to get around. I find that hilarious, since
if my wife and I were a same-sex couple, we would not qualify based on the
requirements. Thankfully, all we have to show is a marriage license… actually,
no, we’ve never even had to show that. We just have to say we are married on a
form. Thank you for protecting taxpayers against all those who would pretend to
be gay if they got sick. There are enough sham-marriages in the heterosexual
community. We wouldn’t want to extend that right to LGBTQ partners as well.
You also claimed that you didn’t want to spend taxpayer
dollars on same-sex benefits. Discussed in this same meeting was spending taxpayer
money on a lot of projects… like tree trimming. You didn’t raise an objection
to any of the other expenditures because fiscal responsibility. We were talking
about very few people and very little money. By your logic, in order to be
fiscally responsible, the City of Lakeland should hire more LGBTQ persons. Please
don’t pretend this was about money… Money conservatives will give to your
campaign? Yes. But money wasted on same-sex partner equality? No. (Note: LGBTQ persons pay taxes too).
Commissioner Yates, you told me that you just didn’t see a
“groundswell of support”. This letter is a heads-up that I will make it my
personal mission to make sure you do see many groundswells between now and next November. A groundswell to take away your seat. A groundswell for your
opponent. A groundswell against discrimination. A groundswell for equality.
Sincerely,
Rev. Andy Oliver
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