LGBT People Protected Again in Kentucky Government

Hats off to Governor Beshear! Finally, some good news!

Kentucky Equality Federation started an online petition for this a few weeks ago (though we had no idea the Governor's Office was considering it already). This will give the Family Foundation something else to blog about!

This was pulled from the Commonwealth News Center:

FRANKFORT, KY – Governor Steve Beshear today signed an executive order restoring equal opportunity employment to all employees and prospective employees. Under the order, no one can be hired or fired based on race, age, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, ancestry, age, disability, or veteran status.

“A person should be hired or dismissed on the basis of whether they can do the job,” said Gov. Beshear. “Experience, qualifications, talent and performance are what matter.”

In 2003, Gov. Paul Patton issued an identical executive order and said he was a strong supporter of fair and equal treatment of employees. He noted that qualifications and conduct in the workplace should be the only factors by which an employee is judged.

However, in 2006 Gov. Ernie Fletcher stripped those job protections (story) from a certain segment of the state employee population - notably Kentuckians who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered. The suggestion was that such protection was either unnecessary, legally expensive or the equivalent of “special treatment.” As a result, a gay person could be fired simply for being gay.

The executive order signed today by Gov. Beshear restores equal treatment, diversity and inclusiveness to government.

This is GREAT! I'm sure former Governor Fletcher isn't very happy with this; he revoked the previous order attempting to appeal to his conservative right-wing to remain in office.

Below is the actual text of the signed order:


You can view a complete copy of the executive order by visiting the Executive Journal of the Kentucky Secretary of State's website, or click here.

KY will not appeal Cumberlands decision (duhhh)

In April 2006, Kentucky legislators approved a $12 million grant to the University of the Cumberlands, a private school in Williamsburg, Ky., affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention.

The university expelled student Jason Johnson in April 2006 after he posted comments about his sexual orientation on MySpace.com.

Ernie Fletcher, the governor named in the lawsuit, had asked a judge to determine the constitutionality of using taxpayer money for private institutions of higher education. His successor, Steven Beshear, said he agreed with the ruling and his office would not appeal the decision.

This was one of the primary reasons for the Soulforce Equality Ride visit to the Cumberlands in 2007 (story).

In an opinion requested by Governor Fletcher, on March 6, 2008 Franklin Circuit Court Special Judge, Roger Crittenden, issued an order that rendered the appropriations made for the pharmacy school an unconstitutional establishment of religion under Sections 2 and 189 of the Kentucky Constitution. In addition, the court ruled that a permanent scholarship program created for the pharmacy school by the 2006-07 Kentucky Budget bill was in violation of Section 51 of the Kentucky Constitution.

Senator Vernie McGaha, one 13 lawmakers who sided with the university, said he was unsure whether the decision would be appealed.

"Where we go from here will be a collective decision," McGaha told Louisville's Courier-Journal newspaper. "I don't agree with his ruling."

But, people on the loosing side often disagree!

Governor Fletcher's legacy and his final desperate acts to remain in office

With Governor Fletcher still lagging behind in the polls he resorted to posting the Ten Commandments in the Capital yesterday labeling himself “a man of values.” This is funny coming from Fletcher, a man who apparently has no care values of his own. Fletcher’s values consist of a crude calculation of how he can remain in office. His flip-flops on important issues are by now, legendary.

Fletcher began attacking the homosexual population of Kentucky soon after he was indicted to appeal to the right wing:

• Intolerant Fletcher says that since Kentucky has a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, it also includes banning health insurance, inheritance, and hospital visitation rights to same-sex couples. Funny, I don’t recall those items being included on the 2004 Constitutional Amendment.
  
• He refused to veto unconstitutional funding to the University of the Cumberlands, leading Kentucky Equality Federation to hold a protest outside the Governor's Mansion during the Governor's Annual Derby Breakfast (that brings approximately 15,000 people to Frankfort from around the nation).
  
• Governor Fletcher also rescinded an executive order Governor Patton had established protecting LGBT people from discrimination in government.
  
• Earlier this year Fletcher called the General Assembly into special session to (among other things) ban domestic partner benefits at Kentucky educational institutions even though he reappointed Regents to the Board that supported offering them.
  
• His latest aggressive tactic against the gay population includes trying to “scare” voters into voting for him, asking them whether they "want a governor who'd like Kentucky to be another San Francisco."

Ernie, politicians can learn so many things from your world famous flounders. The legacy of the Fletcher Administration will be "what not to do." Hopefully, First Lady Glenna Fletcher gave a “heads up” to staff to begin packing for an evacuation of the Mansion.

Kentucky Museum draws more fire.

The anti-gay Northern Kentucky Museum arbitrarily throws science out the door and creates their own evolution timeline. The museum has made a lot of publicity around the commonwealth and indeed, the nation.

We felt the following posts from other bloggers in Kentucky was important enough to post on this site to inform our readers.

From DitchMitchKY: Three days after the Memorial Day opening of Answers in Genesis’ $27 million Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky, a group called Creation Ministries International filed suit in the Supreme Court of Queensland in the Commonwealth of Australia. Among other things, the suit claims the Kentucky group stole subscribers for its Answers magazine by claiming that the Australians’ Creation magazine was “no longer available.”

(Note: This post is a follow-up to the excellent piece that Daniel Phelps, President of the Kentucky Paleontological Society, wrote about the "Anti-Museum" (aka Creation Museum), as well as his disturbing discovery concerning the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau, as discussed below.)

From: Bluegrass Report: If someone wants to believe that humans once put saddles on the back of dinosaurs and rode them (per the display at left from the Creation Museum), well, knock yourself out. I'm sure they're one of those rare voting blocks that Governor Fletcher (R) has in his pocket.

But when legislatively-created agencies like the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau start pimping a place that promotes the fraudulent notion that humans and dinosaurs once happily co-habitation, where we rode them like something straight of The Flintstones, well, I have a problem with that.

Here's a page directly from the Bureau's website:

The 50,000 sq. ft. Creation Museum located within the greater Cincinnati area will proclaim the Bible as supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice in every area it touches on. Set to open in June 2007, this “walk through history” museum will counter evolutionary natural history museums that turn countless minds against Christ and Scripture.

According to this legislatively-created group we're told that national history museums "turn countless minds against Christ and Scripture." Got that?

After doing a little research, I learned that the President and CEO of the Bureau is a gentleman named Thomas P. Caradonio. Aside from the offensive proselytizing of his organization's depiction of the whackjob museum, I also noted that Caradonio was just appointed by Governor Fletcher as the Chairman of Kentucky's Tourism Development Finance Authority, a public agency that is charged to "assist small tourism attractions obtain financing necessary for the development or expansion of small tourism attractions."

So I guess this begs the question whether the Caradonio-led Tourism Development Finance Authority will be recruiting and spending state dollars on more Creation Museums as they accuse science-based activities as the shunning of Jesus Christ and Scripture?

Seems like another sad black mark on a state that spends so much money trying woo high-tech companies (i.e., those whose business models are firmly rooting in the very science its leadership mocks) to relocate to Kentucky while blasting those of us who (gasp) rely on science to explain things in our history...

Additional United We Stand Comments: I was shocked when I followed the link to the Northern Kentucky CVB and found the page Bluegrass Report mentions. The Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) is charged with collecting 1% in transient room taxes from hotel owners in the Northern Kentucky area. Anytime someone stays in a hotel in Kentucky they pay a 1% tax the hotel owners then pays to local CVB's to promote tourism.

In order to remain impartial, I agree that the CVB should list the Museum on their website. However, the words "museum will counter evolutionary natural history museums that turn countless minds against Christ and Scripture" should not be listed on the CVB's website.

Would they allow a hotel to place "the best place to have sex in the world," or "the only hotel without roaches," or how about "the best hotel in Northern Kentucky" on their website? I don't think so.

Family group plans Capital rally....even though lawmakers won't be there!

The American Family Association sent massive mailers to people across Kentucky this month asking them to "stop the special tax-supported medical benefits for the live-in boyfriends of homosexual teachers at University of Louisville." This illustrates the groups hate of homosexuals since LGBT people are expected to account for less 1% of those who enroll in the domestic-partner program.

The American Family Association needs to get a new agenda because this one is failing. A UCLA study released in February 2007 found that 61% of incoming freshmen last year agreed that same-sex couples should have the right to marriage, up 3.3 percentage points from 2005. America's opinion is changing! Perhaps this is what really scares the American Family Association, as well as the Family Foundation of Kentucky.

Governor Fletcher had asked lawmakers to consider a ban on domestic-partner benefits at state universities and other agencies during the July special session, but said he will honor the wishes of House Democrats and won't put the issue on the agenda of another special session.

The American Family Association of Kentucky has sent mailers in recent days touting a "rally to protect marriage" on the Capitol steps at 2 p.m. Monday, even though no one will be there!

A search of the Kentucky Secretary of State's database indicates they received permission from the Kentucky Department of State to do business in Kentucky on May 08, 2001 and are based in Mississippi. The group was incorporated in the State of Mississippi as a non-profit on July 21, 1977.

Check-out their website, it says they are "Upholding Kentucky's Christian Values." So.......I guess we are "Upholding Kentucky's Homosexual Values," how do think that would look as our 'catch phrase' on our website?

Fletcher reappoints Regents that support domestic-partner benefits.

Governor Fletcher's policy flip-flops are legendary, and this article in yesterday's Herald-Leader about his reappointments to the Board of Regents takes the cake:

Governor Ernie Fletcher filled three spots on the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville boards of trustees Wednesday with people whose stances run the gamut on the controversial topic of providing domestic-partner benefits to college employees.

Three of those named — two from UK and one from U of L — are reappointments of trustees first given those plum assignments by Fletcher’s Democratic predecessor, Governor Paul Patton.

The governor reappointed Louisville civic activist Owsley Brown Frazier, the retired vice chairman of the board of Brown-Foreman Corp. Frazier was among the 14 U of L trustees who backed a proposal to provide health benefits to the unmarried partners of university employees, which would allow gay couples to be covered.

Fletcher recently has urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would block agencies that receive state funds, such as universities, from offering such benefits and included that issue among 67 items on his agenda for a special legislative session. That was a change from the governor’s stance this spring, in which he said such decisions about benefits should be left up to the universities.

Fletcher now has appointed a total of 10 to UK, including extending the terms of May and Miles, and has chosen 12 of U of L’s trustees, which includes Frazier’s reappointment.

This is yet another example of how Governor Fletcher doesn't have any core values of his own, his moves are a pure calculation of how he can stay in office, by reaching out to the conservative right wing and asking the Kentucky House and Senate to pass legislation to ban domestic-partner benefits.

If Governor Fletcher doesn't want the universitys to decide the issues on their own (as they are supposed to), why did he reappoint members back to the Board of Regents that voted in favor of domestic partner benefits?

House Speaker Richards must lead Governor Fletcher by the nose.

Thanks to the efforts of House Speaker Jody Richards, Governor Fletcher has agreed to meet with executives from Peabody Energy for a private meeting on July 25 at the Louisville International Convention Center.

House Speaker Richards (who must now apparently do Fletcher's work for him) requested a meeting with Peabody Chief Executive Officer Gregory H. Boyce to gauge Peabody’s commitment and time schedule to locating an alternative fuels plant in Kentucky if the legislature approves tax incentives.

Governor Fletcher should have taken this action himself prior to calling the House and Senate into special session. This would have established the need for a special session assuming Peabody Energy is in fact going to make a decision soon about locating a plant in Kentucky as Fletcher has claimed.

Instead, Fletcher added a total of 66 other items to the agenda of his executive order calling the House and Senate into a special session, including a ban on domestic partnerships at all Kentucky public institutions that the Senate has already approved.

Governor Fletcher, Senate President Williams, and House Speaker Richards will be attending the meeting in Louisville.

House of Representatives Adjourns; Kentucky Families Safe.....for now.

House Speaker Richards and the entire House of Representatives immediately adjourned the special session called by Governor Fletcher.

"The House of Representatives did what was right for Kentucky families and taxpayers." "Speaker Richards stated it best that the session could cost up to 2.5 million dollars (if it lasted for the anticipated 8 weeks) and that Governor Fletcher should have showed support for energy initiatives during the 2006 and 2007 General Assembly and otherwise kept his veto pen in his desk." - Jordan Palmer

Hats off to the House of Representatives for the leadership and knowledge they showed today in Frankfort.

UPDATE - Official Statement - 11:48 PM
Kentucky Equality Federation praises the wisdom of House Speaker Richards and the entire House of Representatives for immediately adjourning the special session called by Governor Fletcher. The House of Representatives voted to end a special legislative session called by Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher an hour after it started.

"The House of Representatives did what was right for Kentucky families and taxpayers," stated Kentucky Equality Federation President Jordan Palmer. "Governor Fletcher apparently has no core beliefs of his own, his decisions seem to be nothing more than a calculation of how he can stay in office."

Governor Fletcher added a ban on domestic-partner benefits at universities and public agencies to the agenda of the special session that could have cost taxpayers $60,000.00 per day to hold.

Kentucky Equality Federation supported Governor Fletcher's original statement that universities should determine their own policies. But the Governor changed his mind in the middle of an election year and added it to a 'laundry list' as a reason to call the General Assembly into session.

Several Kentucky universities and public agencies offer affordable health insurance to both heterosexual and homosexual couples.

Fletcher expected to outline topics the General Assembly may deliberate by Monday.

Kentucky Governor Fletcher is pondering issues for the General Assembly to discuss when he calls them into special session according to an article published earlier by the Herald-Leader.

Fletcher has been hinting for weeks about calling a special session that would at least include consideration of an energy bill on which lawmakers couldn't agree in March. He said last month he was waiting until after the May 22 primary elections.

Neither Jodi Whitaker, Fletcher's spokeswoman, nor Senate President David L. Williams would say what dates the governor was considering.

"The governor talked about several time frames, but I don't want to break his confidence," Williams said. But Williams added that this summer offers a "window of opportunity" while lawmakers' children are out of school and before the governor ramps up his re-election campaign in the fall against Democratic challenger Steve Beshear.

Beyond the energy bill -- which contains incentives for companies that would turn coal into gasoline -- other issues on the table include:

• State funding for the relocation of a runway at Blue Grass Airport.
• Restoration of money for university and state building projects Fletcher vetoed in 2006.
• Approval of funds for a stadium at the Kentucky Horse Park for the World Equestrian Games in 2010.
• A bill that provides state tax breaks to the families of active military personnel.
• A bill to bar public universities from providing health benefits to live-in partners of employees.
• And two Senate education bills left over from this spring's session aimed at improving math and science instruction.

Did you notice? A bill to bar public universities from providing health benefits to live-in partners of employees.

Equality and fairness doesn't live here, or more to the point, it has not in the Fletcher Administration.

We must remember Kentucky's first Republican chief executive in more than 30 years also rescinded an executive order signed by former Governor Patton that protected gays and lesbians in state government from discrimination. That's not even the worst of it.....of the 365 days in a year, Governor Fletcher chose "diversity day," to do this!

Governor Fletcher, a Baptist minister, also refused to veto 11 million dollars in funding to the University of the Cumberlands in Southeastern Kentucky to build a new pharmacy school after they expelled a gay student. The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky expressly prohibits funding to private educational institutions. This is ultimately expected to end up in the hands of the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Fletcher is expected to announce what the General Assembly may deliberate by Monday. Per the Kentucky Constitution, when the House and Senate is not in session the governor may call them into special session to deliberate specific issues.

Fletcher is under pressure from The Family Foundation of Kentucky to add domestic-partner benefits to what the General Assembly may deliberate, and drawing fire from Kentucky Equality Federation, Louisville's Fairness Campaign, and the Kentucky Fairness Alliance for even considering it.

Honesty and integrity isn't part of the Fletcher Administration.

Beshear Pledges To Air Finances Answers challenge from Fletcher
By John Stamper, Herald-Leader

FRANKFORT -- Answering a challenge from Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher, Democratic candidate for governor Steve Beshear said yesterday he will release his financial information, including tax returns, sources of income and a list of business partners.

Fletcher had challenged Beshear to release the information Wednesday as he deflected questions from reporters about his refusal to release the names of donors to a legal defense fund set up to pay bills stemming from an investigation of state hiring practices.

If Beshear agrees to release his personal financial information, as Fletcher has, "then he can talk to me about a legal defense fund and so can you," Fletcher told Mark Hebert of Louisville's WHAS-TV. "Then he's got some ground to stand on."

Told of the challenge, Beshear promptly pledged to release his financial information within the next three weeks.

"The people of this state deserve to know that a governor has no conflict of interest from his own financial interests," Beshear said yesterday. "So I'm going to release a detailed list of all my assets and liabilities, everybody I owe, what I own and where my income comes from so that nobody can have any questions about whether I have any conflicts or not."

Beshear said it was "ridiculous" for a governor with so many ethical problems to challenge his integrity.

After being told of Beshear's response, Fletcher's campaign manager, Marty Ryall, said Fletcher has no intention of releasing the names of donors to his defense fund until after Attorney General Greg Stumbo leaves office in December.

[...]

Fletcher's decision to withhold the names of donors was criticized heavily during the GOP primary for governor by opponent Anne Northup and Lt. Gov. Steve Pence.

Pence implied that Fletcher might be steering state contracts or handing out plum appointments to individuals who donate.

In an interview on Louisville radio yesterday, Pence said he will not support Fletcher during the fall election unless he releases the names of donors.

Governor Fletcher can dish it out, but can't take it.....he is unwilling to submit to his own statements and challenges. What difference does it make? Even if the governor did something illegal, he can just give himself a pardon (literally).

Governor Fletcher doesn't stand his ground on anything.

• Fletcher promised to change the good ol' boy culture of state government but became part of it instead.
• He punished those who disagreed with him.
• He took the Fifth Amendment because he had things to hide.
• He pardoned his whole administration because he was afraid of how high up the investigation into hiring abuses would reach.
• He cut a deal to end the investigation to keep anything else from coming out.
• Fletcher became the very thing he had vowed to change.

Not to worry however. The general election isn't far......afterwards, Kentucky will have a new chief executive leading the government.

Governor Fletcher and Attorney General Candidate Stan Lee.

by John Aravosis (DC)

"Now they're telling us that when the states banned gay marriage they also banned providing health insurance, inheritance, hospital visitation and more to gay couples. Funny, but I don't recall hearing any of that when the religious right was pushing these things."

Fletcher Vs. Northup for Governor.

Most of the publicity for the election of the commonwealth's chief executive has been centered around unseated U.S. Representative Ann Northup (R) and our current chief executive, Governor Ernie Fletcher.

Though Fletcher has been conservative in a lot of areas, not nearly as conservative as Northup.

Is Governor Fletcher the lesser of the two evils should the primary come down to the Fletcher and Northup? You decide!

FLETCHER:
Kentucky Equality Federation is no fan of Governor Fletcher.

We cannot forget that he refused to veto unconstitutional funding to the University of the Cumberlands, leading the Federation to hold a protest outside the Governor's Mansion during the Governor's Annual Derby Breakfast (that brings approximately 15,000 people to Frankfort from around the nation).

Governor Fletcher also rescinded an executive order Governor Patton had established protecting LGBT people from discrimination in government.

Let us not even address the ugly hiring scandal. We're sick of hearing about it....and the bottom line is that the Fletcher Administration violated laws in our opinion.

NORTHUP:
Now, on to Northup; while part of Kentucky's Congressional Delegation, Northup voted in a manner inconsistent with Kentucky Equality Federation Values:

Northup voted NO on this issues:
Vote 535: H R 6375: Requiring the Secretary of Defense to Submit to Congress An Annual Report and to Provide Notice to the Public on Congressional Initiatives in Funds Authorized or Made Available to the Department of Defense. (no government/public oversight on Pentagon spending)

Prosecuting Hate Crimes - Expand the federal criminal civil rights statute to include violent acts against a person because of a person's sexual orientation, gender identity, gender or disability.

Northup did NOT vote on these issues:
Vote 423: H RES 844: Congratulating the International Aids Vaccine Initiative on 10 Years of Significant Achievement in the Search for HIV/AIDS Vaccine, and for Other Purposes.

Northup voted YES on these issues:
Warrantless Wiretapping - Warrantless surveillance of telephone and e-mail conversations that Americans in the U.S. have with people abroad, even when there is no evidence that they are conspiring with foreign terrorist organizations. It would authorize Warrantless surveillance of Americans with no judicial check if the U.S. is attacked, or when the president decides there is a threat of attack.

Federal Marriage Constitutional Amendment - Amendment the United States Constitution that would deny the right to marry to all same-sex couples and jeopardize all other protections that same-sex couples have under state or local law. Send to states for ratification.

Anti-Marriage Court-Stripping Bill - A bill to strip all federal courts -- including the U.S. Supreme Court -- of jurisdiction to decide the constitutionality of the anti-gay federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Domestic Partnership - Block the implementation of the Dictrict of Columbia's domestic partnership law. Every year since 1992, Congress has blocked a measure passed by the D.C. City Council that would allow city employees to purchase health insurance for their partners and provide hospital visitation rights to other domestic partners in the city.