Haverford Township Commissioner Holmes Is At It Again!
Thanks to all who contacted the Haverford Township Commissioners last month! On December 13th the Haverford Township Board of Commissioners voted 5-4 to table Ordinance No. P24-2010 – the so-called anti-discrimination ordinance. This ordinance would include ‘sexual orientation and gender identity or expression’ language and would create a human relations commission to enforce it. I would affect housing, commercial property, employment and public accommodations
Commissioner Holmes has indicated he will ask the Board of Commissioners to reconsider the original version of the anti-discrimination ordinance on Monday, January 10th. He nor any of the other supporters of the ordinance have answered any of the questions we posed to them in a November 8th e-mail. Those questions included:
1.) Where is the evidence that there is wide spread discrimination against homosexuals, bisexuals and transgenders in Haverford Township?
2.) Can they not find a job?
3.) Can they not rent or buy a home?
4.) Are they not permitted in restaurants or stores?
5.) Or are they simply trying to use the force of law to demand that all residents in Haverford Township accept their lifestyle as normal?
State Senator Daylin Leach attended the December 13th meeting in support of the ordinance. Unfortunately, he was not quite truthful in his testimony as he said, “Additionally, there have been no problems or “locker room crises” in communities where anti-discrimination ordinances were approved.” Obviously he has not read about the incidences listed below! But he was quite truthful in the real purposes of these ordinances in that the “cumulative effect of local ordinances will ultimately push the state to act.” They want to use the passage of these local ordinances to force the state to add ‘sexual orientation and gender identity or expression’ to the PA Human Relations Act.
The commissioners need to be reminded that these ordinances have real world consequences:
- June 2007 – Portland, OR – male registered sex offender dressed as a woman enters women’s locker room at the Mount Scott Community Center
- January 2008 – Gaithersburg, MD – man wearing a dress enters women’s locker room in the Rio Health Club
- June 2008 – Philadelphia— Man demanded to use the women’s fitting room in Kmart; clerk hesitated and entire store had to go through diversity training to become more tolerant of ‘transgenders’
- June 2008 – Cleveland, OH – man who believes he is a woman demands to use the women’s locker room at the city pool
- 2009 – Western Michigan University professor finds herself in the shower at the local health club standing next to a ‘fully equipped’ male
- 2003 – Philadelphia begins attempt to evict the Cradle of Liberty Scout Council from the headquarters they built and have maintained since 1929 on property the 1928 City Council gave them free use of in perpetuity. The reason? The Boy Scouts do not allow open homosexual leaders or members.
- September 2010 — A bakery in Indianapolis, IN faces eviction from a city owned building because it refused to fill a call-in order from a homosexual organization.
The five commissioners who voted to table the ordinance on December 13th need to know Haverford Township residents continue supporting their decision. Will you plan on attending the meeting?
Action Needed:
1.) Thanks to those who attended the December 13th meeting, but we need your help again! Please attend the 7:30 p.m. Monday, January 10th meeting and voice your concern. If this passes, it also will have real world consequences such as the ones listed above. The meeting is in the Commissioners’ Room, 2325 Darby Road, Havertown.
2.) E-mail AND call your commissioner – contact info below. Ask him to: Allow the ordinance to die – don’t bring it up again. Haverford Township does not need such an ordinance. If you don’t know who your commissioner is, you can also call (610) 446-1000 to get that information.
3.) If you have already signed our petition, thank you. But we do need more signatures to help get a stronger message across. If you have not signed, please click here and the AFA of PA will help deliver your concerns to the Board of Commissioners.
4.) In the meantime, follow up your e-mail, calling and petition signing with a specific phone call to Commission President William F. Wechsler at (610) 446-1000 and ask him to let the ‘anti-discrimination’ ordinance die.
5.) If you don’t live in Haverford Township, but know someone who does, please forward this alert.
Phone numbers and e-mail addresses:
President and 9th Ward — William F. Wechsler 610-789-2299 bwechsler@teamwex.com
Vice President and 1st Ward — Steve D’Emilio 610-449-5685 demilios@uphs.upenn.edu
2nd Ward – Mario Oliva — 610-551-3846 Mario@2ndwardnews.com
3rd Ward – Robert Trumbull — 610-649-6708 Robtrumbull@comcast.net
4th Ward – Daniel Siegel — 610-446-1117 dansiegel@4haverford.com
5th Ward – Jeff Heilman — 610-945-7064 jeffheilmann@yahoo.com
6th Ward – Larry Holmes — 610-642-0334 lholmes@dilworthlaw.com
7th Ward – James McGarrity — 610-446-8088 commmcgarrity@comcast.net
8th Ward — Chris Connell, Sr. — 610-609-1902 cconnell@haverfordtownship.org
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