Column by Joe Gallenstein

Normally, I write about the problems I have with the Republican Party, especially those problems I have with the way the fanatic right wing bends to the whims of Rush Limbaugh or Jerry Falwell. Unfortunately, it is true that there are some in the Democratic Party who are just as bad. There are members of the party who would like to be leaders of our community, whose chief achievements have been the support of discrimination being written into our commonwealth’s constitution.

I am not someone who thinks my party should be in lock-step at all times, and in fact, I believe that the beauty of the Democratic Party is that it is a big tent made up of many different people. It has always been the party that has stood strongly in favor of protecting and honoring people of all faiths, protecting the rights of workers, women, and since the days of President Franklin Roosevelt, has pushed for equal rights for all men and women. It is because of this basic belief in the Democratic Party that it is my opinion that the Kentucky Democratic Party should be willing to stand together and announce that we will no longer tolerate that people in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and allies (LGBTQQIA) community can legally be discriminated against in our Commonwealth. It is time that we as Democrats are willing to stand up for this maligned minority.

Since 1998, this state has made several great steps forward, with Louisville, Lexington and Covington all passing ordinances that bar discrimination in employment, housing or public accommodations. These ordinances have protected the LGBTQQIA community from being fired for being different than their coworkers, have ensured equal opportunity to state social services and equal access to affordable housing in those three municipalities. However, they do not enjoy the same promise of protection in cities such as Newport, Frankfort, Paducah, Pikeville or Ashland. This oversight in protection of rights must be protected, as our state cannot afford to be so backward in our outlook of whose civil rights are and are not protected. The Kentucky Democratic Party can lead the call for fairness and help move Kentucky toward a more just social order.

Now, since the Spring of 2007, both the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky have come forward to offer domestic partner benefits, and it is understood that these benefits are needed to push these institutions forward. Those who oppose these benefits are nothing short of senseless bigots who are unwilling to accept the difference in human beings and our public officials who impede progress today will be remembered tomorrow in the same way as Harry Byrd, Lester Maddox and George Wallace.

The Kentucky political realm should have no place for those who seek to benefit from the fears of the populace by playing off of popular prejudices, by creating boogeymen and scapegoats out of misunderstood individuals from within our community. It is intolerable for a group of people who believe in protecting civil rights and liberties, as well as honoring diversity, to select as a leader any individual who supports discrimination and hate being written into our law and would serve only to continue to further hurt our state.

It is just as true today as it was when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote it while sitting in an Alabama jail, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We in the Democratic Party must decide if we will stand for justice, and more importantly we as Kentuckians and Americans must decide if we will allow injustice and discrimination to be apart of our laws.