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County Commission votes against gay protection

The Hillsborough panel rejects a proposal prohibiting workplace discrimination and makes it more difficult to put the issue on a ballot.

By Times Staff Writer
Published October 6, 2005

TAMPA - Hillsborough County Commissioner Kathy Castor said she was only trying to repair Hillsborough's reputation as unfriendly to gay rights when she asked commissioners Wednesday to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation for private and public employees.

But the request backfired when commissioners, led by Ronda Storms, not only refused Castor, but voted 5-2 to make it harder for voters to decide the issue.

They required that the workplace protection of gays can't be put on a referendum ballot unless at least five commissioners approve it. Before Castor's request, only four votes were needed. Castor and Tom Scott dissented.

Protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation had been a part of the county's human rights ordinance until it was removed in 1995. Commissioners rejected adding it back in five years ago. Castor tried again Wednesday after a human relations board sent a letter to commissioners asking that they reconsider - especially after Storms and commissioners grabbed national attention this summer when they voted that the county abstain from recognizing gay pride events.

At the time, Storms and commissioners said they weren't discriminating against gays, but they just didn't want taxpayer money to recognize their lifestyle. Now was their chance to prove they didn't mean to discriminate, Castor said. Not so, said Storms, who said the board had already decided the issue a "long time ago."

Then she made a motion, seconded by Jim Norman, that required the extra vote to put the issue on the ballot.

"Don't be mean-spirited," Castor pleaded, but commissioners approved it with little discussion. Two South Tampa residents, Jeanine Minge and Melissa Lewis, waited all day for commissioners to vote, and when they did, shortly before 5 p.m., they shook their heads in disgust.

"It just shows that when they said they weren't discriminating against gays, they in effect were discriminating against gays," Lewis said. "They're doing everything they can to silence a community," Minge said. "It's appalling."

[Last modified October 6, 2005, 01:13:15]