Anonymous mailer spreading hate, Citizens for Akron is still in business?

More "protected" classes.
What a country!

Is this our biggest problem that we face? What is government thinking? How about health, jobs, security, economy, etc. Anybody want to have another election? Good luck to us.

Just because all the other mice chose to run into the river to drown does not mean we have to as well. Can this area find something worth while legislatively to fight for other than some guy who wants to wear his mommies panties?

does this cover pedophilia? how about necrophilia? nymphomania? sodomy? can I now practice incest without penalty in Summit County?

How do you prove this? I have no idea what other employees do when they go home.

Yet another step backwards.

"does this cover pedophilia? how about necrophilia? nymphomania? sodomy? can I now practice incest without penalty in Summit County?"
Being gay is different from all those other things. What harm is there in sex between two consenting adults. Not only that I agree there should be protection for gays because it is totally evident that people are born that way and it is not a choice. I can understand no gay marriage because marriage is a christian institution but as far as laws are concerned there is supposed to be a separation of church and state which means the right thing to do is to protect gays from discrimination. A competent employee shouldn't be fired if they are gay unless they work for a religous organization such as a church.

Hmm, uhh, Yea right.

I see the usual right wing nutbags are here as well as a couple of relatively new ones.

The legislation would be a good thing. Not surprised at all that "The legislation is in the Republican-controlled Senate, where it might languish" since the republicans are now led around by the nose by the religious right.

I find it ironic that those claiming to be "God's people" seem to be the most intolerant and judgmental of all!

San Diego Joe, both sides have an extreme amount of judgmental people.

I'm not against the legislation, but sexual orientation should be defined as homosexuality and not left wide open. As it's written a member of NAMBLA could be protected, or a panty sniffer, boot licker or crush video lover. Define sexual orientation as homosexuality and I'm all for this.

Give it a break Joe, no one (besides racker's rant) mentioned anything about party affiliations or religion.

I find it amazing that the City of Akron, and Summit County are JUST NOW enacting legislation that has been on the federal books for decades. Totally amazing.

I propose new legislation. Any mention of your sexuality is grounds for immediate termination from whatever employer you are with. Keep it at home and it stays at home. I don't care what your decision is, your sexual preferences have no place, nor should they have any protection in the workplace. I'm tired of feeling that the entire country is run by adult-film stars. I don't want to hear about your conquests and I'm not interested in your opinion of straights or gays. How about make the job itself the defining factor of your employment instead of wearing your personal life on your sleeve and expecting others to respect it.

Follow the yellow brick road to ?????
Malaga Oh

Don't we have laws that cover this already? Apparently not.

Someone already mentioned that gay people are born the way they are. There is to date, no proof of that theory.

I don't want gay people to be discriminated against. But I also don't want them to misrepresent themselves either.

The only problem with this law, is that the abusers will abuse it, like any other protection law we have.

From an earlier post...
"does this cover pedophilia? how about necrophilia? nymphomania? sodomy? can I now practice incest without penalty in Summit County?"

If you look at crime statistics, the vast majority of these crimes are not committed by gay people. To attempt to associate them with gay people is a step back in time. Educate yourself before posting a comment. Protection for all is a good thing and does not call out a protected class. If this county wants to grow and attract jobs, this type of legislation is a necessity.

I have few friends who are gay. They range from mullet wearing soft-ball playing butch-d***s to light-in-the-loafers flamers. They joke around with me a lot, knowing my reputation for tolerance. Over the past several years, each has made several references to "turning" someone. In fact, a few take pride in their boasts of "turning" people.

If you can be "turned", you are born that way. It is a choice. I would not be so bothered by what people choose to do in the sack, if they acknowledged that it is a choice they make. Don't play the victim of some genetic roll-of-the-dice. Man.......I hate victims. Straight victims, gay victims, liberals, neo-cons, black, white, etc.

I made several bad sexual choices. Maybe sleeping with both sisters was a bad call. Was I a victim of hormones? No. I opportunistic, and a tad bit greedy. My choice. If bubble head pope, or TOJ want a sweaty roman helmet or a cleveland steamer, that is ok with me. It is their choice.

"If you can be "turned", you are born that way?"

forgot my question mark. it makes more sense this way.

Sand Diego Joe: You seem like a very angry little woman! But that's just my observation. By the way, Jesus loves you....even if you don't love yourself;-)

@hitnrun74 - Right on! But alas with definitions, the courts would be like "Woo Hoo Open Ticket".

@hit&run74 "I don't care what your decision is, your sexual preferences have no place, nor should they have any protection in the workplace."

Sexual orientation is a topic that comes up often in the workplace. When a person is hired, they are asked about their marital status. When a person decorates their work environment with pictures of family. When coworkers ask about whether someone is married. When there are work functions where spouses are invited.

Heterosexuality is brought up in the workplace frequently. Homosexuals need to be able to disclose their sexuality in the same appropriate manner without the fear of losing their job.

@ron mexico... You are much less tolerant than your friends think.

@j "As it's written a member of NAMBLA could be protected, or a panty sniffer, boot licker or crush video lover."

The law is written to protect people from being fired for their sexual orientation. Which usually means disclosing who your partner is in an appropriate manner. What you are worrying about would be offensive even if discussed by a heterosexual. As for NAMBLA, it is illegal to have a relationship with a child, so that would not be protected.

rm

I guess sarcasm doesn't translate well in an on-line forum.

I am as tolerant as they are private. Keep your personal life private, and I will not say a word about it. Make it the part of open conversation, then I will be open and honest as well. Without political correctness. My gay friends know that. To get a laugh, they even go out of their way to provoke a comment, just to see what I will say. They do it in good humor, and I reply in kind. It doesn't get hurtful. I get "breeder" jokes directed at me. Funny ones, too. We keep it light. We get along great because they don't expect me to be quiet while they discuss their love lives. They don't play victim, either. They choose to live that lifestyle.

Just another excuse for a lawsuit for incompetent workers to use when they get fired.

Here's an idea: Dont bring your orifice of choice into the workplace to begin with! Nobody wants to know, nobody cares. Dont use your gayness as the central focus of your resume. If you make it irrelevant to your job, everybody else will also. Stop putting your gayness in everybodys face and demanding they embrace it.

Here's another idea: Dress appropriately and professionally for the job you are doing, and wait until you get home to put on your sister's clothes. I dont care what you wear away from the job, but I dont want some guy dressed as girl working the front counter dealing with the public as the face of my organization.

Oh, for Pete's sake. It sucks to be hated on because of the way your genes came together. Black? Not cool. Disabled? Not cool. Older? Not cool. Gay? Oh, boy! We can spend all of that christian -country hate on you!

So you think it's a choice? Then decide to get all hot for someone your own gender. Can't imagine gettin' all hot for another man? Neither can a Lesbian? Can't begin to get all frothed us about another woman? Neither can a gay guy.

What makes you think that someone can choose to be gay if you can't? Idiotic. And interestingly enough it is a hell of a demographic- low crime, high income. And as for your pedophiles? Almost ALL OF THEM are heterosexual white men. So you want to hate on someone?.....

So if and employer fires a gay person for lousy work the gay person can sue and say they were fired because they were gay not because they don't do good work. What leverage does a straight white guy have?

@ Mathematicaster - Most gay people will tell you that them being gay has nothing to do with sexual urges.

Since many gay people are also christians, does that mean they hate each other?

Pediphiles are sexual deviants. Are you suggesting that gay people are deviant? No one here said so.

As for the choice part, there's far greater documentation of men and women who had activities both gay and hetero, to put a dent in that theory.

I lived in San Diego while I was in the Navy so I know why San Diego Joe is all for this. I bet he hung out at Balboa park at night, right Joe?
He knows what I mean.

@Traditionalist: Sorry to burst your bubble. I'm a white hetero male in my late 50's. I just don't have the same life position as a lot of you. I'm a lot more tolerant and try to understand people as much as I want them to understand me. And I don't believe being gay is a choice.

@Jer1963: I think that if you wanted to make a gay connection, you would have mentioned the Hillcrest are of San Diego. Balboa Park is a beautiful place. I was there yesterday...with my female date.
Sorry to burst your bigotted bubble. (Not)

SanDiegoJoe - many of these guys keep a female date as a cover.

Now lets think about the implications here. The public schools, charter schools, catholic schools, Christian schools, preschools, child-care, boy scouts, girl scouts, etc..., that are in summit county must hire homosexuals to teach everyone's children their moral values. Didn't we have a revolution 200 years ago so that a government could not impose particular moral values upon us?

good point ward8. I suppose that is the ultimate goal.Personally I appreciate how our new council person chose this as her first major problem to tackle, since it's such an important issue to the people of ward 8. Don't worry about the expanding crime rate, we have got to protect the persons caught giving a blumpkin on the job!

There is something seriously wrong with a city government that cannot properly fund its safety services, but instead, finds time and resources to force its citizens to accept sexual deviance as normal behavior.

How many high earning families will move out of the city because they do not want their children taught by homosexuals in preschool, and how many people will not relocate to Akron to take a job at, for example Goodyear, for the same reason? Then there will be even less tax revenue to fund essential services.

Each councilperson who votes for this needs to be voted out of office!

Well J, I tried to warn everyone when Kurt was running for office that the homosexual agenda would take precedence over all other issues, but no one listened.

Despite the looney comments here, I agree with Sandra Kurt that for the most part, people in the area are fair-minded.

hitnrun--that's fine except for the assumption that everyone is "straight". would also have to prohibit pictures of significant other (/wife/husband) on the desktop, just about any discussions about "what you're doing this weekend, etc--in short, it's not practical. and it's not really about sex but about whom you choose to be a part of your family.

ward8resident said-
"How many high earning families will move out of the city because they do not want their children taught by homosexuals"

Not many because hopefully people like you and others who share your warped opinions are few in numbers.

Go take your hate-filled self and MOVE. I and many others would love to see you go.

My biggest fear would be that somebody like YOU was teaching in my child's school. You are a messed up person.

@Jenkins; gosh love you. I hope your children are taught by nothing but homosexuals. I hope they instill in your children that homosexualtity is the right path to take. I hope you don't want grandchildren unless they are made in a laboratory petry dish.

Sheila-

My child already has had homosexuals for teachers. So have your children. So have you.

They don't push some "agenda". They are human beings just like you and I who just happen to love somebody of their same orientation.

The thought of this "agenda" is ridiculous. The only agenda I see is your (and ward8resident's) agenda for intolerance and hate.

It's not hate at all. I said I hope the homosexual teachers instill in your children their beliefs and lifestyle that you espouse as normal and natural and their right to do so. I'm agreeing with you.

Man, I hate to do this, but I'm with Jenkins here. Regarding what they're teaching, I think they're teaching reading, writing, math, history, etc, not who they nailed the night before. I don't recall a hetero teacher really ever going into anything remotely personal, so why would it be any different with a homosexual teacher?

Also, Ward8Resident, I swear I only see you pop up on gay stories. Is there something you'd like to disclose?

Ron Mexico, can you tell me one more time how you have gay friends? I'm uncertain as to whether or not you personally know any homosexuals, but another anecdote would sure clear up the confusion. Thanks. Do these people exist in reality or only when the "it's OK, I have gay friends" card comes out?

This is just an HR policy, folks. Let's not pull our hair out and get all hysterical here. Nobody is pushing anything other than employment policies. Talk about insecure.

Politically correct is killing America,not like people can figure out what is right or wrong on their own. If they can't I really don't think any law on the book is going to make them see the light. The whole politically correct,protected class sure worked out well at Ft.Hood huh?

Why is it illegal for three or four legal aged, consenting adults to marry each other?

They are very real, TOJ. Would you like to meet one? I know one who going through a rough time right now, since his partner left him. I have a feeling that you have the prescription for what ails him.


@Honda
You make a good point. Take the word "homosexual" out of any pro-gay rights argument, and replace it with "polygamist". Their argument is just as valid as the gay argument is. Consenting adults. Loving relationship. Nobody's business but theirs. Keep your religion out of it. etc.etc. Maybe I can convince the wife to let me bring in another woman. There is enough Ron Mexico for two.

Just employment policies? What about when a local catholic school denies a first grade teaching position to a homosexual activist and is prosecuted by the city? Will the city then spend millions of dollars to fight the Vatican from the Akron Municipal court to the state court of appeals—to the Ohio Supreme Court—to the Federal District Court—to the Federal Court of Appeals—and then to the U.S. Supreme Court that has a conservative majority? And for nothing. The Supreme Court will not place gay rights above the First Amendment rights of an established religion. How many police officers and firefighters could be put on the payroll for the money it will take to defend this new radical law? This is bad for our local economy any way you look at it.

Hay Ron, I bet you were born with that desire to have more than one woman at a time.

Ward8Resident's posts have convinced me that the proposed law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation is needed. Your point about the American Revolition being fought, in part, so that the government could not impose particular values upon us is well taken. That being the case, heterosexuality should not continure to be imposed as it has been.

Think:
Heterosexuality is not a religion. It is nature. Homosexuality is an anomaly that is destructive to the natural process of perpetuating the human species. This fact of nature is recognized by all religions and condemned accordingly. Normal people do not want their children taught that homosexual behavior is normal because they want to live on through their children and grandchildren. Homosexuality threatens to disrupt the natural process of reproduction and kill off the human species.

Ward 8 is right. It is nature. I don't see my female cat going after another female for sex. I don't see two male rabbits breeding. It is nature.

And the reason why you don't see that Sheila is because if cats and rabbits behaved in that manner they would be extinct. There are some documented cases in the animal kingdom where some animals behave that way and they are promptly killed by the normal animals of the same species.

This law only goes for city and county jobs. Nobody is making a Catholic school hire homosexuals.

Well Rikashmoney I have not seen the actual legislation, but the article states that sexual preference would be added to the same protected classification as sexual harassment. That would suggest that it applies to all employers including catholic schools.

Just a late reply to rm: I did say everyone did I not? If I didn't let me reiterate. Keep your sexuality at home. All of it. Your desk is an employer provided workspace. When they took away all of the swimsuit calendars, family pictures should have followed suit. If the only identity you feel in society is based on your choice of sexual partners, you really need to find a way to be a little more valuable. This goes for the straights, the gays, and everybody in between. I have no bias. I don't care the slightest bit if you're gay or straight or if you get excited looking at roadkill. That's for your time. Your social circle is who has to decide your merits in personal areas. If you excel in the workplace, you will not be mistreated. Employers know value, if they don't you should move on anyways.

Good. I hope Akron AND Summit County outlaw discrimination against gays & transgenders asap. This is the 21st century & discrimination can NOT be tolerated against the LGBT community! Go Gays!

hitnrun74: I have to agree. When did sexual preference become a part of the job application? Do your job; go home and do what you want. Don't force your lifestyle on me. But once you publisize it, don't be alarmed at the reacations you may get.

To Ward8Resident: I just do not find homosexuality to be nearly as ominous as you do. To be completely frank, I do not find it ominous at all.

@ProChoiceLiberal: WHEN I SNAP MY FINGERS YOU WILL WAKE UP. YOU WON'T REMEMBER ANY OF THE NONSENSE YOU HAVE SPEWED. 10....9....8...7....6....5....4......................................................................................

@hitnrun74... If you own your own company you can set your own rules. But I have never worked at a job where family / personal lives don't enter into the working day to some small extent. Your expectations are unrealistic.

and the liberals win again

I agree with Jenkins and TOJ on the teacher issue.

Ron Mexico - loved the "both sisters" comment. LEt me know if you convince your wife - i'm single!

Best offer I've had in a while, Deidre.

I can't help my urges for polygamy. I am a victim. I was born this way, and that means that God made me this way........right?

sorry, just practicing my explanation to my wife for the reasons we need more wives in the house.

Wow. Pretty soon it won't be legal to discriminate against ANYONE! Then what the heck are we gonna do?! Treat everyone equally! Please. Does anyone understand how hard that would be to do? This is clearly the result of a left wing commie liberal plan designed to take away all that is right and good in America and make us good people think and stuff. I'm moving out of Akron as soon as I can, I'll tell you that much.

Sheila, Nathan is wrong. Plenty of REAL men would love the pleasure. They are scared by women........like Nathan

WOW ! If this passes then Graig Stanley can come out of the closet.

Craig Stanley will sure be happy if this passes!