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Jewish Community Campaign to pass HB 1515

Jewish Community Campaign to pass HB 1515
Some frequently asked questions and answers Q: What does House Bill (HB) 1515 do? A: The Bill adds sexual orientation to the Human Rights Commissions jurisdiction. The Human Rights Commission is responsible for enforcing the states anti-discrimination laws. Currently, the Washington State Human Rights Commission is charged with the: Prevention of discrimination in employment, in credit and insurance transactions, in place of public resort, accommodation, or amusement, and in real property transactions because of race, creed, color, national origin, families with children, sex, marital status, age, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a disabled person... HB 1515 adds sexual orientation to this list. This will allow the Human Rights Commission to investigate claims of discriminatory practices based on sexual orientation. HB 1515 also makes it explicitly clear that the protections and remedies it provides to all other groups will also be provided to all, regardless of sexual orientation. Q: Why do we need the Anti-Discrimination Bill? A: Equality is a basic right. Individuals should not fear for their job or their home because of who they are. The state already recognizes this in regards to race, religion, marital status, gender, age, disability and other categories. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people have no other legal protections in many areas in Washington. Unless the legislature passes statewide legislation, it will still be legal to deny someone credit, housing or employment based solely on that persons sexual orientation. Private businesses, cities and towns across the state have anti-discrimination policies for LGBT individuals. The absence of sexual orientation in our Washington State anti-discrimination laws is a glaring omission. It effectively legitimizes homophobia in employment and housing practices. Seven cities and three counties in Washington, as well as 14 other states and the District of Columbia, have enacted non-discrimination policies in regards to sexual orientation. Q: Why now? Didnt this bill die? A: HB 1515 is alive for next session all bills introduced in the first year of a biennial session are automatically alive in the second year. Q: Why are we doing this is Bellevue? A: To underscore Jewish presence in swing legislative districts. Senator Luke Esser from the 48th voted against HB 1515. Q: How many Jews are in Seattle? A: The 2000 Jewish Demographic study conducted on behalf of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle indicates approximately 40,000 Jews live in the Puget Sound area. Nearly 27 percent live on the Eastside Bellevue, Mercer Island, Bothell, Kirkland, Redmond, Woodinville and Issaquah. A little more than 15 percent live in North King County and north of the King County line. Thats about 42 percent of the Jewish community (nearly 19,000) living in areas that include the 45th, 48th and 44th legislative districts. Q: What type of resources will the Jewish community commit to this? A: We are all committing staff and/or volunteers to work on the 1515 Campaign. Those of us for whom this will be a primary legislative objective will be dedicating significant paid professional staff and volunteer time the Campaign. Q: How seriously do we take this? A: The 1515 Campaign is an important part of the official legislative agendas of many of the groups represented here. Passage of this coming legislative sessions version of HB 1515 is one of the legislative objectives of the Jewish Federation, which employs a full-time lobbyist. Passage will be the primary legislative agenda for the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that has fought for justice and fair treatment of all peoples for the past 92 years. Q: What about marriage? A: This campaign is not about marriage. This is about justice and fairness it is about equal treatment for all people. This is about ensuring that all people in Washington State have the same rights to housing and accommodation, to employment and credit, and to insurance coverage. Q: What is the Jewish communitys history of discrimination? A: Throughout the United States, including in Washington State, Jews could not buy houses in many neighborhoods. Restrictive covenants prohibited the sale of homes to Jews, African-Americans and Asian-Americans. Those restrictive covenants remain today on the title for properties throughout our region, even though laws and judicial decisions have made them unenforceable. Jews could not get certain jobs or work for certain employers. Some restaurants would not serve Jews and Jews were not allowed access to some amusement parks. Throughout the U.S., colleges and universities had quotas limiting Jewish admission. Almost all of this began changing since the 1960s with the passage of laws guaranteeing equal rights to all, regardless of race, religion, creed, national origin, gender, marital status, etc.but even up until the 1980s, there were clubs in the Seattle area that denied access and/or membership to Jews. And today, those protections that the laws provided to Jews still do not apply to gays and lesbians who live in our communities. Q: Do all Jews support this legislation? A: No. As with any community, we have a diversity of opinion. However, the organizations that are part of this campaign represent a large part of our Jewish community.