Billings, Montana Mayor Casts Deciding Vote To Kill LGBT Non-Discrimination Ordinance

Just after 3 a.m. Tuesday morning, Billings, Montana Mayor Tom Hanel cast the deciding vote against a proposed non-discrimination ordinance (NDO) that would have protected Billings residents from discrimination based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. The Billings Gazette reports on how the 6-5 city council vote went down:

Hanel said he applied a standard from Rotary International to help him reach his decision: “I needed to ask myself, is this fair to everyone, beneficial to everyone? Will it build goodwill and friendships? I can’t say for sure,” he said of the NDO.

Shaun Brown, another council member who opposed the NDO, specifically opposed a provision in the ordinance “that would have prohibited discrimination in public accommodations — namely, restrooms and locker rooms” and “alternates that would have allowed for monetary damages to people successfully arguing they were discriminated against.”

The debate on the NDO seemed to drive a wedge between many in the Montana community. Denis Pitman, another “no” vote on the NDO commented that he was disappointed “how much this issue has divided the council and the community.”

Supporters of the NDO meanwhile were disheartened by the measure’s defeat. Said Shauna Goubeaux, who along with her wife Nicole have challenged Montana’s same-sex marriage ban,

“My wife and I own our own home, and we’re employed by companies that are open and embracing” of their marriage, which occurred in another state, she said. “Our lives aren’t as impacted, but the lives of our friends are impacted by this vote.”

Bill Cromley, one of the five council members to vote in favor of the ordinance, told the council before Hanel cast the deciding vote, “There is a gay agenda. They want to be treated as real human beings.”

Cromley’s remarks did nothing to sway Hanel’s opinion that Billings is not ready for an NDO that would protect its LGBT citizenry. Hanel’s final advice to the crowd as the 8 1/2 hour meeting drew to a close was to “walk out of here as professionals”:

“We were all created equal,” he said. “If you can’t sit by someone who disagrees with you, shame on you.”

Bozeman, Montana Unanimously Passes LGBT Non-Discrimination Ordinance

Bozeman, Montana voted 4-0 on Monday night to pass an LGBT non-discrimination ordinance, becoming the fourth city in the state to do so, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports:

A few dozen people who turned out in support of the ordinance, many wearing white stickers with green lettering that read “Support! Fairness Dignity Security,” sat silently as commissioners swiftly cast their votes for the ordinance. No one spoke during public comment. 

The ordinance, which is aimed at protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination in the workplace, housing and public accommodations, will go into effect in 30 days. 

The silence at Monday night’s meeting stood in stark contrast to past meetings where supporters and opponents spent hours voicing their opinions about the ordinance.

Bozeman is the fourth-largest city in Montana, with a population of approximately 40,000 people.

GOP State Senate Candidate Pushes for Montana Schools to Teach Creationism

Montana front-runner and Republican senatorial candidate Steven Daines has some very strange ideas about how “education” works. While sitting down for a radio show interview, in 2012 he stated that he supported the teaching of pseudoscientific garbage in schools.

Montana’s GOP senatorial front-runner Steven Daines has some very strange ideas about how ‘education’ works, as he pushes for creationism in schools. Image: cc 2008 by Tkgd2007 and modified by Elisabeth Parker (2012).

According to Mother Jones:

In a little-noticed 2012 interview, Rep. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), the front-runner in Montana’s open 2014 Senate race, expressed support for teaching creationism in public schools.

In an interview that aired on November 2, 2012, Sally Mauk, news director for Montana Public Radio, asked Daines, who was then running for Montana’s lone House seat, whether public schools should teach creationism. Daines responded, “What the schools should teach is, as it relates to biology and science is that they have, um, there’s evolution theory, there’s creation theory, and so forth. I think we should teach students to think critically, and teach students that there are evolutionary theories, there’s intelligent-design theories, and allow the students to make up their minds. But I think those kinds of decisions should be decided at the local school board level.” He added, “Personally I’d like to teach my kids both sides of the equation there and let them come up to their own conclusion on it.”​

He added that he would “teach his kids both sides of the story.” You can listen to that audio below:

This isn’t the first time Daines had dabbled in creationism, either. He has spoken at the Creationist Museum in Kentucky, and has had individuals associated with his campaign who were involved in creationism, such as Greg Gianforte, whose foundation helped to fund a $1.5 million creationist dinosaur museum in Glendive, Montana. This is a “museum” that contends “the wonders of God’s creation are prostituted for evolutionism.”

As Mother Jones points out, this “teach the controversy” approach won’t hurt the Republican frontrunner in the polls. A recent Pew research poll showed that 33% of Americans don’t “believe” in evolution, of the roughly 60% that do, about half think that evolution was guided by a supreme being (so we’re not a wolfing species, we’ve got a patron species after all — kudos to anyone who gets that reference, by the way). it just goes to further highlight Asimov’s now-famous quote:

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.

ACLU Files Suit To Overturn Montana's Ban On Benefits For Same-Sex Couples

Following similar suits in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana has filed an amended lawsuit against the state on behalf of seven gay couples in an attempt to win for them the same benefits that married straight couples receive. The Missoulian reports:

In the amended lawsuit, attorney James Goetz identifies numerous statues, including laws he says prevent gay couples from receiving financial protections given to police officers and spouses and from designating their partners as beneficiaries for worker's compensation.

Other laws Goetz cites exclude gay couples from financial protections for surviving spouses, authority over end-of-life decisions, financial protections due to illness or disability and protections from the dissolution of their relationships.

In December 2012, the Montana Supreme Court denied the ACLU's original appeal challenging every statue excluding committed same-sex couples form protections granted to straight couples. The Justices did say, however, that the ACLU could move forward with statute-specific efforts to secure equal treatment for same-sex couples in the state.