County may adopt ordinance
By Heather Mangold
City
Editor
Discrimination could be a thing of the past if
county commissioners adopt an ordinance that would create a human relations
policy in Tippecanoe County.
The ordinance was passed unanimously on its first
reading and will go before the commissioners again on May 21 to determine
if the ordinance will be adopted.
The ordinance is very similar to that of West Lafayette
and Lafayette's human relations ordinance, with one exception. The council
ordinance's only difference is the addition of veterans as a group of
people who would be protected from discrimination.
West Lafayette human relations commissioner Pauline
Shen said, "It's really about time and it's really important. If you
have issues that need to be brought to justice, that cannot be done
without a county commission."
The ordinance states that it would be created to
provide all of Tippecanoe County's citizens with equal opportunity for
employment, public accommodations and housing. If the ordinance is passed,
the county will encourage and promote mutual self-respect and understanding
of each other by all groups in the county and promote the guarantee
of equal rights to all citizens.
The Purdue Equality Alliance announced their support
of the ordinance as well.
"I am proud of the county commissioners and proud
of the recent events in the community," said the alliance's co-founder,
Bryan Szyper, in a news release. "However, I am especially proud of
how far our community continues to progress in regards to civil rights
issues."
Szyper said that the expansion of civil rights
from city to county to state is only natural. He said what many Purdue
students don’t realize is that they are only covered by Purdue's
nondiscrimination policy, but if they live outside of campus, in West
Lafayette or Lafayette, there are few protections from discrimination,
and none based on sexual orientation.
While Commissioner K.D. Benson has offered this
ordinance as the solution for Tippecanoe County's human relations problems,
it is not the answer for others.
Rev. Steve Viars of Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette
said that he does not feel that this ordinance is the right version
for Tippecanoe County.
"We've been seeking compromise for the last couple
of years," said Viars.
Viars said the reason he became involved with the
issue of adopting the ordinance was not to win a legislative battle,
but to promote civility. Viars said that because his epistemological
source was different from that of others, a problem could evolve.
"I don't want to impose my views on anyone else
in town, but I don't want them to impose their views on me either,"
he said. "It's not just about human sexuality, it's also about religious
liberty."
Viars said the ordinance could potentially do harm
to people who have an epistemological source like his because it wrongly
discriminates against people who share his beliefs.
"When religious organizations use the Bible as
their guide to determine hiring standards, it is directly related to
accomplishing their missions," said Viars. "It's an issue of religious
freedom."
Viars said that the forefathers of this country
fought for separation of church and state, and if this ordinance were
adopted, it would do harm. He called it "a chilling example of how a
well-intentioned human relations ordinance could go wrong."
Viars said that he is totally opposed to all forms
of hatred and violence, but that this ordinance was not the answer to
the community's equal rights problems.
Mary Finnigan, a member of Citizens for Civil Rights,
said that her organization has been fighting for the passage of this
ordinance for a long time.
"Students often tend not to know their rights,"
said Finnigan. "This is an opportunity for them, if they live in the
county or work in the county and feel they've been discriminated against;
they (would) now have a body to report to."
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