The Following Is An Op-Ed Written by Tim Davis and Published by the Springfield News-Leader:
In case you have not read the city of Springfield’s 20-year Strategic Plan, please be advised that: You are not in Kansas anymore. The chapter of the Strategic Plan titled “Global Perspective and Diversity Planning” is something foreign. It condenses the ideas of the 2010 Strategic Plan for the Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights, which, in turn, springboard from the lament that: “Springfield is the last metropolitan area in Missouri to not have sexual orientation and/or gender identity in the city nondiscrimination ordinance.”
In deference to the LGBT lobby, plans for the city and mayor’s commission intend a multistage program that promotes the gay, lesbian and transgender lifestyle.
The first stage of this program targets children. The plan for the mayor’s commission recommends training and curriculum for “all school aged children (public, private, home schooled)” that will “educate children about values and concerns of diverse groups, their norms and customs.” Whether parents want their children educated about the values and customs of the gay, lesbian and transgender community is not questioned. The rightness of such education is assumed, as is the risk that, without it, students will be “stagnant to new ideas.” The city hopes to influence 10,000 to 20,000 students with its message.
The program’s second stage targets the workplace. State and federal laws prohibit private employment discrimination based on race, gender, disability and other traits — but not sexual orientation. Springfield offers something new: penalties for failing or refusing to hire gay, lesbian and transgender applicants. “Area churches and area universities” are expected to comply. The strategic plan for the mayor’s commission identifies pro-LGBT hiring policies and “diversity training” as conditions precedent to obtain a business license.
The city also proposes decals, to be displayed at the entrance to each place of business, on websites and advertisements, indicating whether a business has pro-gay policies. Decals allow businesses to “highlight their desire to be inclusive.” At the same time, businesses without decals are red-flagged. The Achilles’ heel of the whole scheme is the cost to enforce compliance; so, in addition to decals, the plan foresees private informants who will “monitor businesses that infringe on human rights” or fail to show “mutual respect.” Penalties could be up to one year in jail, with each day of noncompliance being a separate offense. It is a grey, Orwellian land.
Nothing in the city’s plans targets hate crimes. And no one should confuse the elevated language of the plans with an attempt to curb violence.
Municipalities lack statutory authority to enact relevant penalties. And, anyway, crimes against gay and lesbian persons are already prosecuted as state or federal felonies, typically under the Matthew Shepard Act of 2009 which heightens penalties for crimes motivated by sexual orientation and expands the jurisdiction of federal courts to address such crimes. The U.S. Department of Justice reports three (3) hate crimes, motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation, in Southwest Missouri in 2009, the most recent statistics available.
Springfield has posted its plans: www.springfieldmo.gov/strategicplan/ and www.springfieldmo. gov/boards/humanrights/pdfs/humanRightsStratPlan2010.pdf . Speak up.
Tim Davis has a Ph.D. in economics and a law degree from Oxford. In 2010, he was a candidate for United States Congress in the 7th District. He practices law in Branson.
