Study issues LGBT equality rankings for Fayetteville, Fort Smith

A recent study of equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals in Arkansas by the Human Rights Campaign ranks Fayetteville highest in the state on its new Municipal Equality Index, even as the city prepares for a vote Dec. 9 on whether to repeal its non-discrimination ordinance meant to protect members of the LGBT community.

The HRC study looks at six categories to form its ranking on a scale of 100. Fayetteville earned a 42. The categories include non-discrimination laws, relationship recognition, municipality as employer (same-sex partner benefits and equal opportunity in city contracts), municipal services, law enforcement (reporting hate crimes and engaging with the LGBT community) and the overall relationship with the LGBT community.

Compared to other cities in Arkansas, Fayetteville by far surpasses all others, with Fort Smith, North Little Rock, and Springdale coming in at 16 out of 100 possible points and Little Rock coming in at only 13. The five cities were the only Arkansas cities included on the index.

In the area of non-discrimination laws, Fayetteville earned a zero of 18 available points, while it earned 12 out of 12 for relationship recognition for having a domestic partner registry. In the employer category, the city earned a 16 out of 29 based on offering non-discrimination in employment, domestic partner benefits and equivalent family medical leave.

The city earned only six of 15 available points for enumerated anti-bullying policies under the municipal services category and 10 of 18 in law enforcement for the reporting of hate crime statistics to the FBI. The final category netted the city only two of eight points for the city's stance on LGBT equality.

When comparing Fayetteville to other cities in the south, the results were mixed. Tuscaloosa, Ala., for example, only scored three out of 100 on the index while Memphis and Athens, Ga., scored 46, and Knoxville, Tenn., scored a 36. One of the highest ranking cities in the south was Tallahassee, Fla., with an 81 out of 100 in the index.

“In many municipalities, local leaders are taking important steps to provide LGBT people with the protections and security not available at the state or federal level,” said Rebecca Issacs, Executive Director of Equality Federation. “Municipal victories are fueling the movement for equality in states across this nation. The Municipal Equality Index is a terrific tool to help spur those victories along and celebrate the cities who have worked so hard to get us to this point.”

But in Fayetteville, efforts to strengthen protections for the LGBT community have been met with resistance after the city passed ordinance 5703 earlier this year, which made it illegal to discriminate against an individual based on their sexual orientation.

A vote is scheduled for Dec. 9 that would repeal the ordinance in its entirety and the push for repeal has been backed by the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce. In a memo dated Monday (Nov. 10), Chamber President and CEO Steve Clark said the Chamber's support of the repeal had nothing to do with being against the LGBT community and instead was standing against a law that he said was vague and non-specific in what constitutes discrimination.

"This is absolutely not a pro-LGBT vs. anti-LGBT debate, though that is how it is being framed," he said. "The ordinance as it was drafted is unworkable and unacceptable. If we stand by and ignore the impact of the legal deficiencies in the ordinance, in the next few years our members will bear the burden of funding the inevitable litigation necessary to clarify, amend, or overturn the law as it has been passed."

He said the Fayetteville "Chamber abhors discrimination of any kind, and we will not accept the characterization that we favor any form of hatred or discriminatory behavior."

Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan said in a letter to Clark also dated Monday that the Chamber should "rescind its decision" to stand for repealing the ordinance. Jordan is an ex-officio member of the Chamber's board of directors.

"I was surprised to learn of this decision since I received no notification of the Board meeting in which it was considered, and I was certainly disappointed in the announced decision to work for repeal of the ordinance," Jordan said. "Had I been notified of the meeting, I would have attended and discussed the reasons why I think a non-discrimination policy enhances our efforts at economic development in Fayetteville."

University of Arkansas Chancellor G. David Gearhart also stepped into the political debate on LGBT equality and non-discrimination policy, adding that he too is an ex-officio member of the board and was not advised of the meeting. He added that the vote should proceed without Chamber interference.

"Many people favor allowing the citizens of Fayetteville to decide the issue at the ballot box in December, rather than having pressure exerted by the Chamber," he wrote. "If, indeed, the law is vague and too broad, the court system of Arkansas will clarify the law in due course."

While Clark has said the Chamber's stance is not about pro-LGBT vs. anti-LGBT, the city council meeting earlier this year where the ordinance passed had many people speaking out against the ordinance specifically because of religious reasons. Dr. Janine Parry, who runs the Arkansas Poll at the University of Arkansas, said data shows Arkansas as being one of the slowest in the South to accept the LGBT community, specifically citing the state's slowly evolving views on gay marriage.

"They have changed, but more modestly and more slowly than elsewhere. About 1 in 6 of Arkansas Poll respondents supported marriage equality, and 1 in 5 supported some other kind of recognition when we first asked this question in 2005 (so, about 1/3 of total sample), whereas more than half were unwilling to extend any legal status to same-sex relationships. Almost a decade later, support for marriage has crept up about 5 percentage points, while the percentage rejecting any recognition has fallen by about the same margin. So, we sit now at 40-45% in support of some kind of recognition (although only 20-24% support marriage) versus about 46-48% against. It remains, obviously, divisive."

HRC President Chad Griffin said ordinances like the one debated in Fayetteville were what would lead the state and the nation in getting legal recognition and status to protect those within the LGBT community from discrimination. He aid the group's new index would help drive equality across more American communities.

“In just three years, the number of municipalities earning top marks for their treatment of LGBT citizens has more than tripled. Simply put, in this country there is an ongoing race to the top to treat all people, including LGBT people, fairly under the law, and it’s time our state and federal laws caught up,’ Griffin said.