Fayetteville Ordinance: Men and Women Must Share the Same Bathroom

“This is something that WE SHOULD NOT DO. I think IT IS BEYOND A REASONABLE POWER by the city.”  -  Kit Williams, Fayetteville’s City Attorney.

Hello Team Coleman,

The city’s attorney stays “Stop!”  Yet, the City of Fayetteville marches forward, against the council of their hired City Attorney.

Team Coleman, this is your third “Call to Arms” concerning an urgent battle that places our freedoms and values under attack. The City of Fayetteville is days away from potentially passing an ordinance that is extremely dangerous to First Amendment freedoms and discriminates against people of faith in Arkansas.

We watched similar ordinances pass in Massachusetts, Illinois and California; and we defiantly thought, “That will never happen here!”

But it is. Arkansas has been targeted by special interest groups with the same agenda that passed in other cities. Here is a portion of the open-ended, vague ordinance Fayetteville, Arkansas plans to pass on Tuesday, August 19:

WHEREAS, the City of Fayetteville seeks to protect and safeguard the right and opportunity of all persons to be free from unfair discrimination based on real or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, familial status, marital status, socioeconomic background, religion, sexual orientation, disability and veteran status; and WHEREAS, the City of Fayetteville seeks to promote the public health and welfare of all persons who live or work in the City of Fayetteville and to ensure that all persons within the City have equal access to employment, housing and public accommodations.

What’s in it for YOU?

Here are a few of the possible outcomes presented by this ordinance, if passed:

    For Many--Your faith will be criminalized. Judeo Christian faiths predominately include instruction to be modest. This ordinance infringes on what many believe to be sacred.

    For Businesses—All business entities will be forced to accommodate values contrary to their belief system and/or accommodate customers’ needs that they are not in a position to serve. Possibly resulting in:

•             warrantless searches and seizure of employment documents by use of police powers granted to the newly-hired Civil Rights Administrator
•             attempts to modify behaviors reported within the business; resulting in possible referral to the City Prosecutor's office for criminal prosecution
•             forced closure of a business until investigation is concluded
•             destroying business reputation via picketing, media and smear campaigns
•             exhausting funds available to fight lawsuits                                               

    For Citizens-- Poses a threat to public safety and privacy rights by forcing people of opposite sex to share public bathrooms, dressing areas and showers. (refer to the ordinance stating that gender, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation, can be “real or perceived”).

    For Coaches/Teachers—Activities designated for male or female participants can be challenged at will. Example 1: Potential physical danger cannot be pointed out to the female who perceives herself as male to play on the male football team. Example 2: Female students or athletes, cannot, without retribution from the City of Fayetteville, ask a male who perceives himself to be female to exit their dressing room/shower stall/bathroom.

    Schools--- Unbelievably, this ordinance contains an exemption for public educational institutions within the City of Fayetteville but not so for private educational institutions. This is clearly discriminatory. If valid reasons exist to exempt public educational institutions from this ordinance, surely valid reasons exist to exempt private educational institutions from requirement to follow this ordinance.

    Parents/Guardians—Family values can be scrutinized in schools. Parents and guardians may be held accountable by the City of Fayetteville and any person who may issue complaint about a child’s professed belief system. Parents who opt to teach values differing with those of The City of Fayetteville may feel pressured to coach their children not to express core values of the home.

    Pastoral Leaders—May be accountable for what is taught to parishioners, and their sermons may be held in scrutiny to man’s law rather than God’s law. (refer to the ordinance stating that religion is protected, really?)

    Church—The ordinance phrase dealing directly with forced use of the church by organizations and individuals holding inconsistent beliefs of those in the congregation may have been amended after the 2nd reading of the ordinance. At present, this update has not been noted on the City Fayetteville website.  If this is true, does this amendment drop the ordinance requirement for hiring practices surrounding non-clergy/secular positions?

And all this is to protect a special class of rights. . . at the cost of your constitutional rights!

YOUR CALL TO ARMS

Curtis and I firmly believe Fayetteville City Council will have decided their vote in advance of the City Council Meeting to be held:

Tuesday, August 19 final reading of the ordinance at 5:30 p.m. in Room 219 of the City Administration Building, located at 133 W. Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas.

So, please contact the mayor and council members to tell them why you oppose the ordinance BEFORE the meeting, and then attend the Tuesday meeting.  Why are BOTH these actions critical?

At this stage, this ordinance can be defeated in two likely ways:

    There are enough votes against the ordinance that the Mayor cannot cast the deciding vote in favor of it. City Council Member contact information is located at www.CurtisColeman.com, click on ISSUES button.
    The ordinance is tabled due to the enormous expression of concern by Fayetteville citizens.

One final thought from Sarah Marsh, City of Fayetteville council member,

“We are hoping (this ordinance) will encourage a community of compassion, and inclusion, where everybody has equal opportunity to succeed.”

Clearly; Ms. Marsh has limited understanding of the purpose of ordinances and laws. Ordinances and laws are not designed to impart or enforce compassion nor morality. They are designed for those who lack morality and require constraint coupled with punishment for the immoral acts they force upon society. The City of Fayetteville does not have the authority to mandate compassion; however, they can encourage it and incentivize it.

We the people will not tolerate the multiple atrocities in this ordinance; from criminalization of faith, to the empowerment of an undefined city position, to the potential of multiple and expensive lawsuits.

Much is at stake.  By CurtisColeman