February 24, 2010 - Lexington Herald-Leader
Cries in the Capitol Rotunda Wednesday called for an end to discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Kentuckians.
A rally sponsored by the Kentucky Fairness Alliance filled the Rotunda and featured speeches from two officials with the state Commission on Human Rights and several state lawmakers.
The Rev. Albert Pennybaker, a retired Lexington minister with the Disciples of Christ, congratulated the rally participants and said they showed “more decency and moral integrity” than those attending a rally held last Saturday on the Capitol steps “by a questionable religious assembly.”
He later said he was referring to a “Restore America of Kentucky” rally of about 400 people that was organized by the Rev. Jeff Fugate, the pastor of Clays Mill Baptist Church in Lexington.
Fugate maintains that families are under attack by liberals and homosexuals through abortion and same-sex marriage.
Fugate was out of town Wednesday and was not immediately available for comment, said a staffer at his church.
The speakers at Wednesday’s rally encouraged passage of identical proposals in the House and Senate that would prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Kentuckians in employment, housing and public accommodations.
House Bill 117 is sponsored by Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville. Senate Bill 138 is sponsored by Sen. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington.
All Kentuckians should have equality under the law, Marzian said.
John Johnson, executive director of the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, encouraged people to speak out for fairness.
“Good things come quickly to those who agitate,” he said. “We call on our leaders to recognize the dignity of human lives.”
George Stinson, chair of the human rights commission who identified himself as a gay male, said it would be “the right thing to do” for state lawmakers to approve the fairness legislation.
Chris Hartman, director of the Fairness Campaign in Louisville, noted that 10 legislators have signed on as sponsors of the fairness bills.