Los Altos reverses ban on gay pride proclamations

[Sapphocrat]

Surprised Los Altos business owners and residents celebrated the City Council's decision late Tuesday to reverse a "discriminatory" rule banning city proclamations related to sexual orientation.

By a unanimous vote, the council elected to rewrite the policy so that all proclamation requests - whether about political or religious issues - will now be considered by the mayor.

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During a half hour press conference prior to the 7 p.m. council meeting, nearly three dozen business owners and residents called for the council to rescind the rule passed in February.

"We believe this city rule plainly discriminates against people based on sexual orientation," said (Los Altos business owner Peter Yessne)... The rule, Yessne continued, denied gays the same rights others have to request city proclamations.

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More:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/15128108.htm

Sapph's report:

I was there last night, along with a sizeable number of residents, gay, straight, and otherwise, as old as perhaps 80, and as young as three, all decked out in our bright-red "PROCLAIM EQUALITY - Los Altos" T-shirts (courtesy of the ACLU -- with which I had a mini-run-in regarding the ACLU's failure to endorse the Uniting American Families Act -- formerly the Permanent Partners Immigration Act -- but that's a story for another day). Right now, I'm just stunned and delighted by the LACC's decision last night. Believe me, we were all very happily shocked when this decision came down, and our applause was spontaneous, and loud.

This doesn't mean the city council will ever issue a proclamation of Gay Pride in Los Altos. It means that the council struck the incredibly discriminatory language from a rule it amended in February -- which essentially said (although the mayor would disagree with me) that the council would specifically refuse to consider any future requests for proclamations related to sexual orientation.

The fight is far from over, but I consider last night's decision a victory -- especially since it was instigated by our Mormon ("But some of my best friends are gay!") mayor, and since the one-eighty by the mayor and the other two councilmembers who had voted to ban consideration of gay-pride proclamations seemed sincerely rooted in guilty consciences.

I think that's true, at least -- but of course, it didn't hurt that more than 50 local business owners signed a petition reminding the council of the widespread negative publicity Los Altos has been getting over this. (Los Altos is one of those small towns desperately worried about keeping its boutique-y shops in business, and the town has been hit hard by the presence of all the Wal-Marts and fast-food joints in neighboring cities. Every time I go downtown, I see another restaurant has shut its doors.) There is no group given greater priority in this town that the business owners. And hitting politicians in the pocketbook always works.

Plus, the ACLU had all its ducks in a row, ready to file suit against the city if it didn't reverse its decision. I was one of those ducks; the ACLU first contacted me a few months ago to ask me to be one of about six plaintiffs in the suit, as I am a resident -- and it doesn't hurt that I'm gay, and an alumna of Los Altos High, which is where this whole thing started. (Quite a surprise when the ACLU contacts you first. LOL) I was 90% willing to do it; I wanted to get the complete lowdown of what would be expected of me first. As it turned out, the lawsuit is kaput. As I said to one ACLU lawyer last night, "I guess you don't need me anymore." Her response: "That's right!" Lawyers! LOL

I've posted a lot on this issue in the past, and blogged quite a bit, so if you want some background on the situation, this is probably my best summary (with lots of links):

http://www.lavenderliberal.com/blog/2006/2006-02-25.php

I just sent a letter to all the councilmembers, with a copy to the local town rag -- which knows me, hates me, and will NEVER print any of my LTTE's. LOL I was also interviewed by the local paper last night, and told the young cub reporter there is NO WAY my comments will ever be printed. I should have made a bet with her.

Anyway, here's my letter to the council today, cc:'d as an "open letter" to the local news:

Gentlemen and Ms. Carpenter:

I applaud your unanimous decision to reverse the council's rule restricting the nature of city proclamations that will be considered by the mayor.

As the rule was amended in February, there was no interpretation the public could make but that the council would no longer consider, nor even hear, requests for a proclamation recognizing a Gay Pride Day in Los Altos.

Whether such a proclamation is ever granted is moot. You have made this issue clearly separate from the question of whether or not a given proclamation will be granted, which is as it should be.

You also made progress toward healing the rift between the council and gay and lesbian residents of Los Altos, our families, and our many friends and allies.

In short, you leveled the playing field again.

I extend special thanks to Mayor Packard for initiating this move, and to Councilmember Colehower for publicly reassessing his previous stance. It is never easy to reevaluate one's position and say, "Maybe I was wrong."

Your decision compels me to do the same; I again see the council as a body striving to represent, serve, and govern all Los Altos residents.

Thank you for restoring my faith in the council -- and, more importantly, in my belief that the system really does work.

No doubt we will disagree on other issues in the future. I hope you look forward to the debate, as I do. That's where civic duty -- both yours and mine -- begins.

Very truly,
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[dsc]

1. great for you

and great letter.

[foreigncorrespondent]

2. Good!

Nice letter too!