March 1, 2010 - Ky. should keep leading on fairness for all its citizens - Lexington Herald-Leader
In January 1966, with Gov. Edward T. Breathitt's signing of a law described by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., as "the strongest and most comprehensive civil rights bill passed by a southern state," Kentucky became the first state in the south to adopt a Civil Rights Act with enforceable repercussions for acts of discrimination. Two years later, Kentucky was again first in the south, this time in the passage of a statewide fair-housing law, which cemented our commonwealth's legacy as the nation's southern civil rights leader. Read more...
February 24, 2010 - Unlearning homophobia (Part 2) - LEO Weekly
My best friend growing up was an African-American boy named Bobby. He looked like all the members of Boys II Men rolled into one, with the mischievousness of Bobby Brown and a smile like Theo Huxtable. We got along well and went everywhere together. He taught me the moves to Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” video in my parents’ garage and taught me how to do the running man in my Hammer pants. Read more...
February 24, 2010 - Call to support two fairness bills in Kentucky legislature - Fox 41
Make it fair for all Kentucky residents -- that was the message during a rally in Kentucky's Capitol Rotunda Wednesday. As John Johnson of the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights put it, "On this day my friends -- we call upon our lawmakers to recognize the dignity of human rights of all people in the Commonwealth, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-sexual and transgender people, for they are all precious in God's sight." Read more...
February 24, 2010 - Gay rights advocates rally for anti-discrimination law - 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. Read more...
February 24, 2010 - Gay rights advocates back statewide law - Courier-Journal
Businesses and landlords in Kentucky shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gay rights supporters said at a Capitol rally Wednesday. They acknowledge that they have a long way to go before passing legislation to achieve that goal. But Christopher Hartman, director of the Louisville Fairness Campaign, said the group is gaining supporters. Read more...
February 16, 2010 - Three decades of change in Louisville's gay and lesbian community - Courier-Journal
Louisville, 1981. No Humana Building. No Center for the Arts. No Waterfront Park. No Galleria (Fourth Street Live). No international airport. Appliance Park was still a major presence. UPS was not. The Watterson Expressway was still a four-lane nightmare. Jerry Abramson was still just one of 12 members of the board of aldermen. What was happening in Louisville's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community that year? Nothing. There were no annual festivals, no health organizations, no political activism. The community remained pretty much what it had always been: quiet, unobtrusive, sedate, closeted. Read more...
February 15, 2010 - Community Challenge | Promote Fairness, support HB 117 - Courier-Journal
In January of 1966, with Gov. Edward T. Breathitt's signing of a law Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called “the strongest and most comprehensive civil rights bill passed by a Southern state,” the Commonwealth of Kentucky became the first state in the South to adopt a Civil Rights Act with enforceable repercussions for acts of discrimination. Two years later, Kentucky was again first in the South, this time in the passage of a statewide fair housing law, which cemented our commonwealth's legacy as the nation's southern civil rights leader. Read more...
February 14, 2010 - Love creates one story from 2 people sharing - Courier-Journal
One day last May, two well-dressed, middle-aged men from Louisville stood on an Iowa bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. They were not alone. Charles Raith's father was there as his best man, and Sam Dorr's daughter from his previous marriage stood up with him. Other family and friends filled out the wedding party, as the men prepared to exchange vows. Read more...
February 10, 2010 - Unlearning homophobia - LEO Weekly
Do you use birth control?
No.
Are you sexually active?
Yes.
(Pause)
So why don’t you use birth control?
Awkward! You’d think the gynecologist’s office would be a safe enough place to disclose the intricacies of my sexuality, but this situation proved to be more challenging than I expected. The doctor was basically a stranger, and I had no idea if she was cool with the gay. What if she disagreed with my “lifestyle” and refused to continue with our appointment? What if she saw homosexuality as a sickness? What if she tried to cure me? What if she kicked me out of her office while a crowd formed around me, holding torches and screaming, “Diagnosis lesbian!” Read more...
February 2, 2010 - How faith speaks to fairness - Courier-Journal
With the current court challenge to California's Proposition 8 forbidding same-sex marriages, religious views are again surfacing. Some are blessed with insight, some with only clamor, bias and stridency. It is critical that religion's positive voice be heard. Why? It appears that the California case could be headed to the United States Supreme Court. A definitive federal judgment upholding the legality of same-sex marriage would result in striking down state prohibitions including here in Kentucky. Now is the time to sort out what we really believe. Read more...
January 2010 - Fairness Director Reflects On First Year & 2010 Legislative Challenges - The Letter
Chris Hartman is just completing his first year of serving as the director of Louisville's Fairness Campaign. We recently interviewed him to ask about highlights of his first year on the job and to give us an idea of what to expect during the 2010 Kentucky legislative session. Read more...
January 27, 2010 - BU students join the fight for fairness - The Concord
On January 16th, several members of Bellarmine University's GLASS (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Society) attended a Fairness Summit hosted by the Kentucky Statewide Fairness Coalition in Frankfort, Kentucky. The Fairness Coalition is an alliance of five organizations based in Kentucky focused on protecting the rights of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered) citizens in the state. It is comprised of the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, Fairness Campaign, Lexington Fairness, Kentucky Fairness Alliance Foundation, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky Foundation. Learn more...
January 19, 2010 - In all Fairness, Mayoral candidates invited to forum - WHAS11
Ten local "social justice organizations" are inviting Louisville mayoral candidates to answer questions specific to the groups' goals at a forum on February 2 at the Metro United Way. A release from the gay rights group The Fairness Campaign says each organization is non-partisan and that all candidates are invited, regardless of party affiliation. An earlier news release from the same group announced a $30,000 grant for the Kentucky Statewide Fairness Coalition. Read more...
January 18, 2010 - More forums set for Mayoral candidates - Courier-Journal
Two more forums for candidates for Louisville mayor have been scheduled, one sponsored by social-justice organizations and the other focusing on “the Future of the Arts in Louisville.” Ten social-justice groups are joining to sponsor a forum from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Metro United Way Building at 334 E. Broadway. Admission is free. It's billed as “The People's Forum,” and the sponsoring groups are the ACLU of Kentucky; the Community Farm Alliance; the Fairness Campaign; the Hispanic/Latino Coalition; the Jefferson County chapter of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth; the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression; Kentucky Jobs with Justice; Making Connections Network; the Metro Housing Coalition; and Women in Transition. Read more...
January 6, 2010 - Keith Brooks, 25, Fairness Campaign board member, blogger - Courier-Journal
When Louisville native Keith Brooks moved home after graduating from the University of Kentucky, he looked for ways to continue the activism work he started with UK's Gay-Straight Alliance. Brooks found his voice with Louisville's Fairness Campaign and online as creator of a blog dedicated to GLBTQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer) issues. Read more...
December 28, 2009 - Kurtz's political activities - Courier-Journal
As a lifelong Catholic and product of 16 years of solid Catholic education (St. Stephen Martyr, St. Xavier, Bellarmine), where I learned invaluable lessons about charity, compassion and justice, I am deeply saddened by Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz's recent political actions, tapping into the Louisville archdiocese's financial resources to help fund a secular political pursuit of inequality — in Maine, no less — while countless families in our own city are in need of food, shelter and health care. Read more...
November 12, 2009 - Green Party candidate to address Unity Dinner - Courier-Journal
The keynote speaker at the 12th annual Unity Dinner will be Cynthia McKinney, who served six terms as a Democratic congresswoman from Georgia and was the 2008 Green Party candidate for president of the United States. The theme of the dinner, which will be held Saturday, Nov. 21 at Masterson’s Conference Center on South Third Street, will be “Transforming Hope Into Reality: Organizing for Racial Justice and a Better World.” The dinner will be sponsored by the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. Read more...
November 10, 2009 - After Maine, the Battle Lines Over Gay Marriage Harden - Time
When America's Catholic bishops gather next week in Baltimore for a four-day conference, they will hear an update on the Catholic Church's ongoing fight to convince the country that marriage as an institution should never include gay couples, and they'll get a sneak peek at how that fight will be waged in the coming year. Videos aimed at priests and deacons are being produced in English and Spanish to give the pastors better tools to reach their parishioners, especially young people, whom the church fears need reminding about its basic teachings on marriage, love and sex. Indeed, the Catholic hierarchy in the U.S. is increasingly unapologetic about engaging in the debate over the issue. Read more...
October 22, 2009 - Hate Crime Bill Passes - LezGetReal.com
The Senate has passed and sent to President Obama for his signature, an expanded federal hate crimes law that would make it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. Democrats lawmakers and supporters have hailed the vote as the culmination of a years long effort to curb violent expressions of bias such as the murder in 1998 of Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming college student, for who the bill is named after. Read more...
October 21, 2009 - Ten years of Fairness - Leo Weekly
Diane Moten’s voice cracks and tears stream down her face as she recalls that cold January evening outside City Hall in 1999, as she waited to learn whether the Louisville Board of Alderman would pass the Fairness Ordinance. Almost eight years earlier, a co-worker at the daycare center where Moten worked asked why she never mentioned having a boyfriend. In response, Moten was unashamedly honest, saying she is a lesbian. In the coming days Moten began to notice co-workers staring and whispering. Three weeks later, she was fired — the daycare supervisor said Moten couldn’t be trusted around kids. Read more...
October 16, 2009 - 'Energy and enthusiasm'- Courier-Journal
I got the treat of joining just under 50 local folks on the Fairness Campaign-sponsored bus trip to the National Equality March in Washington last weekend. For me, it was a life-changing experience, so kudos to the FC, the generous donor who subsidized it, and especially Kyle Riggs' hard work for organizing the trip. Read more...
October 14, 2009 - Road trip for rights - Leo Weekly
At the intersection of 15th and H streets in Northwest Washington, D.C., rumbles of excitement aand anticipation fill the air. The massive crowd is dressed in an array of colorful garb, creating a fitting backdrop for today’s event. Louisville resident Chiquta Baker, 53, and her two children, Yana, 30, and Daniel, 22, stand with a group of fellow Kentuckians waiting for the National Equality March to begin. Read more...
October 12, 2009 - Thousands march for gay rights - Courier-Journal
Tens of thousands of gay rights supporters marched Sunday from the White House to the Capitol, demanding that President Barack Obama keep his promises to allow gays to serve openly in the military and work to end discrimination against gays. Rainbow flags and signs dotted the crowds filling Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House as people chanted, "Hey, Obama, let mama marry mama" and "We're out, we're proud, we won't back down." Read more...
October 9, 2009 - Fairness boycott gets national coverage - Leo Weekly
The Fairness Campaign’s call to boycott Woody’s Tavern over another alleged racial incident involving the bar’s owner, David Norton, was covered in The Advocate this week. The national news magazine is the oldest continuing LGBT publication in the country. Read more...
October 9, 2009 - Ten years of Fairness - Courier-Journal
Ten years have passed since the old Louisville Board of Aldermen passed the “Fairness” ordinance, which provides basic protections for citizens regardless of sexual orientation. Covington and Lexington now have such ordinances, too.And after the city and county merged in 2000, the Metro Council folded the law into the new statutory scheme, extending its protections to Jefferson County outside the old city limits. Read more...
October 9, 2009 - 'Marching for our rights' - Courier-Journal
This Sunday, tens of thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied individuals will descend on our nation's Capitol for the National Equality March to once more demand the fair and equal rights we all deserve, and the Fairness Campaign from Louisville will be right there with them. Read more...
October 8, 2009 - Equality marchers set plans - Courier-Journal
The Louisville Fairness Campaign’s “Equality Express” bus bound for the National Equality March in Washington, D.C., will leave Louisville at 8 p.m. cq Friday from the Mellwood Arts Center, 1860 Mellwood Ave. “Every seat on the bus is now filled,” said Chris Hartman, spokesperson for the Fairness Campaign. The group includes University of Louisville and Bellarmine University students, Fairness Campaign leaders and community supporters. The bus will stop in Lexington around 10 p.m. Friday to pick up some University of Kentucky students, Lexington Fairness leaders, and other supporters at Euclid and Rose streets before the all-night drive to Washington. Read more...
October 7, 2009 - Fairness protections don't apply to all - Courier-Journal
On Oct. 24, supporters of Fairness will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the passage of the Fairness Ordinance by the Board of Aldermen. This Ordinance protects all Louisvillians from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. Read more...
October 7, 2009 - Kentucky Gay Group Works to Shut Down Homophobic Bar Owner - Towleroad.com
The Louisville, Kentucky-based LGBT group Fairness Campaign is working to put a local bar out of business after its owner drove out customers using homophobic and racist slurs, WHAS reports: Read more...
October 6, 2009 - Fairness Campaign pushing for boycott of Woody's Tavern, says owner did it again - WHAS 11
After apologizing in August for racist and sexist comments made a year ago, the Louisville Fairness Campaign says a local bar owner, David Norton, has not learned his lesson. David Norton, owner of Woody’s Tavern, went public in August to apologize for comments made a year ago to University of Louisville students and a professor, saying “What came out of my mouth was pure filth.” Now, the Fairness Campaign is pushing for a boycott of his bar, Woody’s Tavern, because of more racist comments he allegedly made there last month. Read more...
October 5, 2009 - Fairness Campaign to boycott Woody’s Tavern - Leo Weekly
The Fairness Campaign is calling for a full boycott of Woody’s Tavern in response to another alleged racial incident involving the bar’s owner that took place last month. The LGBT rights organization is demanding that David Norton, who also owns Magnolia Bar & Grill in Old Louisville, sell Woody’s — a popular gay bar near U of L’s campus — and if he will not that its doors close. Read more...
October 1, 2009 - “Fairness X-travaganza” Celebrates 10 Years of Civil Rights in Louisville Saturday, October 24
Ten years ago this October, the Jefferson county Fiscal Court passed the first comprehensive anti-discrimination Fairness Ordinance, protecting all Louisvillians from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. To mark that historic occasion in Louisville’s advancement, Fairness Campaign supporters are hosting a series of Fairness X-travaganza fundraising dinner parties across the city on Saturday, October 24, that will end in Fairness X-plosion, a community celebration and dance party held at The Monkey Wrench, 1025 Barret Avenue, from 10pm-2am. Read more...
September 9, 2009 - Fairness Campaign endorses National Equality March, October 10-11, 2009 - Queer Louisville
Fairness Campaign has endorsed the National Equality March, set to take place on October 11th, 2009 in Washington, D.C. The march, sparked by the long-time activist and Harvey Milk confidant Cleve Jones, is set to be one of the biggest events this year targeting gay and lesbian rights. Read more...
September, 2009 - Bar owner apologizes for remarks - The Letter
After several months of pressure from the Fairness Campaign and the community-at-large, Louisville bar owner David Norton publicly apologized on Saturday, August 15 for racist and sexist remarks he uttered during a heated exchange last year at Woody’s, a gay bar he operates in Old Louisville. Read more...
August 16, 2009 - Owner of Woody's Tavern finally apologizes to professor and students - WHAS 11
David Norton, Owner of Woody’s Tavern, says, “I had a realization that this was all my fault from the beginning. I own this place. These people are my guests, it was all my fault from the beginning and I sincerely apologize to each one of them who are here. ”It’s the apology Kaila Story and a group of students have been waiting to hear for over a year. For some, the moment was overwhelming, shedding tears as evidence of the pain that was caused. Read more...
July 20, 2009 - In Kentucky, It's All About Fairness (Campaign) - LezGetReal.com
There is a perception among many gays and lesbians that the national groups such as the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force are ineffective, especially when dealing with the situation on the ground, as it were. According to Queerty, only one person even rated the HRC. Now, Queerty admits that there may be some biases built into their methodology, but there is a bit of an issue when it comes to many of these big groups. Read more...
June 30, 2009 - Gay Progress in Louisville - Courier Journal
In reading the June 19 "Lunch With ... David Williams" interview in The Courier Journal, in which he described the "Sam Dorr case" as Louisville's "Stonewall," I was caught up by the fact that it had happened almost 30 years ago. Although it was "my" case, I rarely think about it now. That was a long time ago. Read more...
June 29, 2009 - Pursuing Fairness Across Kentucky - Courier-Journal
Just a decade ago, basic civil rights were denied individuals living in Jefferson County. Until 1999, someone could be legally fired from their job, denied housing or denied public accommodations if they were suspected of being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. If that seems shocking, know that for Kentuckians living immediately outside Louisville Metro, it is still a reality today. Read more...
June 28, 2009 - Vigil to Mark Stonewall Riots Anniversary - 89.3 WFPL
Louisville’s Fairness Campaign will hold a vigil tonight to mark the 40th anniversary of the New York Stonewall riots. Campaign director Chris Hartman says the uprising against a police raid at the city’s Stonewall Inn marked a defining moment in the struggle for gay rights. Read more...
June 27, 2009 - Rally Protests Gay Marriage Ruling - Courier-Journal
Tracie Meyer said she cried when she heard yesterday that the California Supreme Court had upheld that state's ban on gay marriage. "I feel guilty that I get to be married," said the 48-year-old Louisville resident, who held up a handmade sign reading "I love gay/civil rights" at a downtown rally protesting the court's decision last night. Read more...
March 11, 2009 - Consider the Kid - LEO Weekly
It is just about two hours into the annual Brown School talent show. Outside, unseasonably warm weather has slashed open the Louisville winter to the smells and gusts of springtime. And though it may be premature, the kids here — there are hundreds — bounce around with the glee that a sudden lifting of oppressive weather can bring. Sitting in wooden bleacher seats inside the auditorium of Brown’s downtown campus, Randy Johnson and Paul Campion are holding cameras. Their equipment is state-of-the-art in a modern-dad kind of way: Johnson’s video camera, which operates on flash memory, fits snugly into his palm; Campion has the still-shooter, a compact device whose viewfinder has impressive surface area. The men, who met in 1991 and have been together without interruption since, are stoic and nonchalant about what’s happening onstage. Read more...