County moves ahead on protections for gay workers

By Warren Cornwall

Herald Writer

An effort to protect Snohomish County government workers from job discrimination because of their sexual orientation won an initial victory Wednesday.

In a 3-2 vote split on party lines, the Snohomish County Council voted to hold a Dec. 19 hearing about proposed amendments to the county’s anti-discrimination policy. The council could vote on the amendments that day.

The matter, already likely to spark debate, has also become embroiled in party politics. Republicans are charging that county executive Bob Drewel, a Democrat, has rushed the process to ensure the changes are considered before Republicans gain a majority on the five-person council in January.

"They’re just rushing this through at the last minute because they want to have a rubber stamp county council," said councilman Gary Nelson, the council’s senior Republican.

Council chairman Dave Somers, a Democrat who will relinquish his seat to a Republican in January, said the council had ample time to consider the measure before the hearing.

"This is not unusual in the least," he said of the timing.

The hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 19 in the council’s sixth-floor meeting room at the county’s administration building.

Several religious and human rights leaders urged the council to hear the matter.

"Thank you for lifting up this issue, an issue of justice for all people," said G. Lee Kluth, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Everett, who spoke before the vote.

The proposed changes would add sexual orientation, military veteran status and citizenship to a list of traits protected from job discrimination in county government.

The issue of sexual orientation in organizations has proven a hot political topic in recent years, most famously with the Boy Scouts, which in 2000 won a U.S. Supreme Court case upholding their ban on gay scout leaders.

Supporters of the change in county policy argue it fixes an outdated ordinance and protects people from discrimination over issues that should have no bearing on their job performance.

Laura Wentworth, a union representative for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, referred to the pledge of allegiance she had just recited with the audience to start the meeting.

"I said, ‘Justice for all,’ and I meant that," she said.

But Republican councilman John Koster has warned that including sexual orientation could open a "Pandora’s box" over what kind of behavior is tolerated in the workplace. He has said he is concerned the policy will be seen as condoning homosexuality. It could establish a public climate that pressures private organizations to follow suit, he said.

"I’m still not satisfied that we need to do this," he said.

Both he and Nelson also said the county wasn’t giving careful consideration to important changes in county policy.

Nelson noted some other governments’ anti-discrimination policies have special exemptions in circumstances where someone’s age, sex, or other trait is a legitimate consideration. That isn’t included in the county’s latest proposal.

You can call Herald Writer Warren Cornwall at 425-339-3463 or send e-mail to cornwall@heraldnet.com.

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