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Arizona group takes on Allentown's gay-rights law
Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | August 7, 2003 | Christine Schiavo

Posted on 08/08/2003 3:24:22 PM PDT by schaketo

The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal-aid group with an army of lawyers and a pile of court victories, has extended its reach far beyond its Arizona base.

Last year, the conservative group financed a challenge leading to the rescinding of a Philadelphia ordinance that extended benefits to the partners of gay city employees.

It also helped pave the way for a sixth grader in Colorado to do a book report on the Bible; for an antiabortion group to display giant pictures of aborted fetuses at the University of Houston; and for religious groups to rent space in New York public schools.

Now the alliance and a lawyer trained by the group are joining to challenge an Allentown ordinance that protects homosexuals and transgendered people from discrimination.

The challenge - which contends that Allentown does not have the power under state law to extend such protection - threatens to erase similar ordinances in Philadelphia, New Hope, and other Pennsylvania municipalities.

"The battle we have to fight now is against an ethic that people should be able to do whatever they want sexually," said Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the alliance. "The homosexuals seem to be the main advocates of this right now. I think this can lead to sexual anarchy."

The lawsuit and its supporters aren't welcomed by Allentown officials, who fought to adopt the controversial amendment in April 2002.

"I am thoroughly convinced that this was the right thing to do," said Gail Hoover, the Allentown city councilwoman who introduced the amendment. "Just the fact that this group from out of town, out of state, feels the need to reach this far to get involved in something they're not involved in is a perfect example of why that law needs to stay exactly as it is."

Lancaster lawyer Randall Wenger, who has worked closely with the alliance on several cases, filed the lawsuit on behalf of four Allentown landlords on July 14.

Wenger is one of about 700 lawyers who have been trained at workshops that the group has offered since 1997, Lorence said. Lawyers at the workshops - which are kept confidential for security reasons - are asked to "tithe" 450 hours of work in three years to "Christ's body," which Lorence defined as the community of believers.

Wenger, who attended an alliance workshop in July 2002, said he fulfilled his pro bono commitment in one year. He said his fee, if any, for the Allentown case will depend on how much the alliance kicks in.

Lorence said his group supported the Allentown suit and would help finance it.

Lawyers employed by the alliance and others under agreement with the group look for cases of anti-Christian bigotry and what they see as threats to family values.

"I think that what we're trying to uphold is marriage and the traditional view that people should be chaste until marriage and that anything that attacks or challenges that should be challenged," Lorence said.

The alliance has taken Arlington, Va., New Orleans, and several other cities to court for extending benefits to domestic partners, as Philadelphia did in 1998. Last August, a state appeals court struck down the Philadelphia ordinance, saying the city had no authority to create a new marital status. The city has asked the state Supreme Court to hear the case.

Lorence said the alliance contributed a "significant grant" to the Philadelphia challenge. Dennis Abrams, a Bala Cynwyd lawyer who brought the lawsuit on behalf of William Devlin and the Urban Family Council, said he worked at a reduced fee on the case.

He said he had not attended an alliance workshop.

In the Allentown lawsuit, Wenger contends that the city overstepped its bounds when it amended the human relations ordinance by prohibiting employment or housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

He argued that if state law does not protect those groups, city law can't either.

If the case is successful, the precedent would threaten similar protections on the books in Philadelphia, New Hope, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, York and in Erie County.

"For my clients, it has to do with freedom of conscience... . They believe they have the freedom to rent to and hire people they feel comfortable renting to and hiring," Wenger said.

Stacey L. Sobel, a lawyer and executive director of the Center for Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights, dismissed the lawsuit as sour grapes.

"It's unfortunate that a few people who want to feel free to discriminate against others are dragging the city into court," she said.

The four landlords did not return calls for comment.

The state Human Relations Commission has tried for several years to persuade legislators to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes, along with race, color, creed, ancestry, age and ability, said Homer Floyd, the commission's executive director.

State Sens. Joe Conti (R., Bucks) and Allen Kukovich (D., Westmoreland) have responded with a bill that could come up for a vote in the fall.

"In matters of civil rights, it's always better to have state law supersede local ordinances," Conti said.

Floyd said the commission believes municipalities have the right to expand protections even if the state doesn't.

"We encourage cities to provide as much protection as possible to their citizens from discrimination," he said.

The New Hope Borough Council did so last year when it adopted a human-relations ordinance similar to Allentown's.

"We feel there is a general antidiscrimination requirement in the state," said Richard Hirschfield, Borough Council president.

Along with Hirschfield, Allentown Mayor Roy C. Afflerbach believes his city's ordinance is "on very strong ground." Allentown has retained a Philadelphia lawyer who will work pro bono to defend the ordinance, he said.

Hoover, the councilwoman who introduced the ordinance, said she hoped the lawyer would not be needed.

The legislature can render the lawsuit moot by amending the Human Relations Act.

Conti said he expected his bill to have bipartisan support, as did the amendment to the hate-crimes law, which was expanded in December to protect gays, lesbians, bisexuals and the transgendered (people whose sexual identity differs from their gender).

Pennsylvania is one of only seven states that include those groups in its Ethnic Intimidation Act, said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

"The thing about Pennsylvania is that it's a conservative state by lots of measures," she said. "But Pennsylvanians are very much for fairness and respect and civil rights."

Contact staff writer Christine Schiavo at 215-348-0337 or cschiavo@phillynews.com.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; US: Arizona; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: gays; homosexual; homosexualagenda

1 posted on 08/08/2003 3:24:22 PM PDT by schaketo
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To: schaketo
The money I would have given to United Way in the past will now go directly to the Boy Scouts and this fine organization the Alliance Defense Fund.
2 posted on 08/08/2003 3:25:41 PM PDT by schaketo (White Devils for Al Sharpton in 2004... Pennsylvania Chapter)
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To: schaketo
SPOTREP
3 posted on 08/08/2003 3:52:34 PM PDT by LiteKeeper
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Comment #4 Removed by Moderator

To: schaketo
This is an interesting case. It shows how conservatives are learning to use the lefts tactics against them - working as outsiders in support of a cause; using lawsuits to coerce local government into moving their direction; getting funding from outside sources; taking a position and searching out places to press it in.

To bad it's taken 30 years to understand and adopt those tactics!
5 posted on 08/08/2003 5:28:49 PM PDT by Kay Ludlow
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To: schaketo; scripter
Bump & Ping
6 posted on 08/08/2003 6:23:31 PM PDT by EdReform (... www.choice4truth.com ...)
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