(This article first appeared in the September print edition of the Hendersonian.)
Three cities adopted Kentucky’s first fairness ordinances in 1999—but Henderson’s ordinance lasted only 18 months before it was repealed. It would take two decades before the Henderson City Commission dared bring it up again.
The battle in Henderson for LGBTQ protections took much longer and was characterized by more intense opposition than those in Louisville and Lexington-Fayette County. The initial Henderson draft imitated the two other cities’ ordinances but was weakened in an unsuccessful effort to compromise with opponents.
Members of the Henderson Fairness Campaign met with Mayor Joan Hoffman in April that year, but final approval of the ordinance didn’t come until the end of September. The public, however, didn’t learn of the impending storm until The Gleaner’s lead story of May 4, which noted city Commissioner (now state senator) Robby Mills had sent letters to about 60 local pastors asking them to start a letter-writing campaign.
Mills’ action prompted the Henderson Fairness Campaign to call a press conference the following day to clarify that an ordinance would do no more than protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination in the areas of housing, employment and public accommodation.
Mills called a press conference May 11 in front of the Henderson Municipal Center. “A fairness ordinance is not the topic,” he said. “I think the topic is special rights for homosexuals and lesbians in our community.”
The Rev. Ben Guess, co-chair of the fairness campaign, responded: “There is nothing special about keeping your job, maintaining your home or having a picnic in a public park…. These are not special rights. These are equal protections.”
On July 12, the Henderson City-County Human Rights Commission took up the matter at North Junior High School. Its hearing attracted more than 800 people and the vast majority were against the proposed ordinance. Many of those speaking were ministers; in fact, much of the opposition in 1999 was based on religion.
“Passing an ordinance against God’s holy word invites God’s holy wrath,” said the Rev. Bill Patterson of First Baptist Church.
The Rev. Kevin Stone, co-chair of the newly formed Henderson chapter of the American Family Association, said the human rights commission “needs to be just as concerned with my religious beliefs as someone else’s sexuality.” He was youth pastor at First Assembly of God at the time.
Guess said only about 30 fairness supporters were there. They decided not to speak, he said, because “this has become an anti-gay rally” and opposition speakers “have stated a definite opinion that they support discrimination and that they think it should be within their right to discriminate.”
Many opponents read sections from the Bible during the Henderson City Commission’s public hearings on the ordinance in September.
But not all opposition was based on the Bible. Although opponents said the ordinance would limit their religious freedom and legitimize sinful behavior, they maintained it would also weaken the family and put undue pressure on businesses.
By August, City Attorney Joe Ternes had drafted a proposed ordinance, which resulted in several changes during a city commission work session on Aug. 30. More than 400 people attended but were not allowed to speak; they were told they would get their chance in September.
About the same time, opponents paid to have an advertising insert in The Gleaner that had been prepared by the American Family Association. It alleged the local ordinance was part of a national gay agenda that included legalization of polygamy and public sex, lowering the age of consent for sex, and homosexual sensitivity training in public schools.
The Henderson Fairness Campaign almost immediately responded with a press conference. “Some are calling gay and lesbian people pedophiles and child molesters and implying that this ordinance will corrupt the families of this city,” said co-chair Katherine Hope Goodman.
The full text of the proposed ordinance was printed in The Gleaner of Sept. 12.
The city commission held first reading Sept. 14 at Henderson County High School; about 575 people attended and more than 90 signed up to speak. Applause, boos and jeers marked the emotionally charged meeting, which lasted seven hours.
The city commission voted 3-2 at 2 a.m. The mayor and Commissioners Sonny Ward and Michele Deep voted for it. Commissioners Mills and Russell Sights voted against it.
“The vote was cast, and I really think folks are going to focus on elections in the future,” Mills said afterward. “My plans are to run for city commission again and hopefully vote the fairness ordinance out or reverse it.”
The Gleaner’s editorial of Sept. 19 called for greater civility. “The boos and jeers that practically shouted down Mayor Joan Hoffman as she attempted to speak at the opening of the hearing were entirely out of order. Had virtually anyone else been sitting in the mayor’s chair, they would have cracked that gavel and sternly ordered the audience to behave itself or face being escorted outside by police officers….
“The fact that the commission’s majority agreed to subject themselves to what they knew would be a most unpleasant experience indicates a degree of courage and sense of fair play. They deserve better from their constituents–even those who disagree with them.”
Even some of the opponents were disturbed by the open hostility expressed. Stone, leader of the local American Family Association, wrote “some have crossed the line of civility” and worried “that we have allowed our emotions to at times get the best of us.”
Mills also admonished some of his supporters at the final Sept. 28 hearing, saying, “we … as Christians have somewhat spoiled our witness in the last couple of months by name calling and pointing fingers.”
Final approval of the ordinance came after a five-hour hearing at South Junior High School, which about 400 people attended; it resulted in the same 3-2 vote.
“History has shown us … that we, the majority, can’t be trusted with the rights of the minority,” said James Hartley. He sardonically thanked Mills and Sights “as well as the opposition for demonstrating better than (he) ever could exactly why we need the ordinance they so oppose.”
Mills offered three amendments to weaken the ordinance, but all were defeated 3-2.
“May we resolve not to give up the fight but to have this ordinance repealed at the first opportunity,” said Sights, which brought much of the audience to its feet in applause.
Less than two months after final passage the ordinance faced a legal challenge when Rick and Connie Hile filed suit in Henderson Circuit Court against the city, the mayor and the human rights commission. They maintained, because of their religious beliefs, they were “compelled to not rent their rental properties to persons who are homosexual or bisexual.”
That challenge was quickly dismissed because of answers Rick Hile gave at a deposition Aug. 4, 2000. Hile admitted he had not read the ordinance and wasn’t aware of the exemption it gave to single-family housing–like the rental units he and his wife owned– thus he could not show he had been harmed by it.
The Nov. 6, 2000, election, however, spelled doom for the ordinance. Sonny Ward did not seek re-election, and was replaced by Bob Hall, who along with Mills and Sights had said throughout the campaign they would repeal the ordinance. Deep was re-elected by only 120 votes.
On Feb. 13, 2001, Mills asked the city attorney to draft a measure to undo the ordinance. “The results of this fall’s election reiterated the public’s concern with this ordinance as Commissioners Sights, Hall and I received a record amount of votes,” he said.
Mills also asked that the city’s employment application and employee manual be changed to remove the term “sexual orientation” from its non-discrimination clauses; that language had been added administratively in 1993. Sights was city manager when that happened but later said that phrase had been added without his knowledge.
First reading was scheduled for Feb. 27 and final reading for March 13. The public uproar that had accompanied the 1999 hearings failed to materialize. A total of 22 people spoke at the hearings, 15 opposing repeal and seven supporting it. Hoffman and Deep voted against the repeal.
Not a single complaint had been filed during the 18 months the ordinance was in effect.
On Jan. 22, 2019, Hoffman and a group of supporters approached the city commission, asking that the fairness ordinance be reinstated. First reading came June 11, 2019, and final reading was on June 25. Commissioners Brad Staton (current mayor), X.R. Royster and Austin Vowels voted for it; Mayor Steve Austin and Commissioner Patti Bugg voted against it.
Henderson thereby became the 11th Kentucky city to enact a fairness ordinance. Chris Hartman, director of the Fairness Campaign in Kentucky, said unlike Henderson’s 1999 passage of an ordinance—when insults and threats were frequently lobbed—this time “it went pretty easily here.”
