2016: The Year for Equality & Inclusion In Mesa

Phoenix New Times has picked up the ball to advance the accelerating momentum for Mesa to join the three other largest cities in Arizona that have passed ordinances to guarantee the rights of all protected classes for equality and inclusion by the force of law.
In a report by Elizabeth Stewart yesterday January 11, 2015
Best and Worst Arizona Cities for LGBT Rights
It's the same information in a post here on December 12, 2015 about the Human Rights Campaign Municipal Equality Index [MEI] that rated Phoenix, Tempe, and Tucson with a perfect score of 100. Mesa at 50.

Of the nine cities included, only Phoenix, Tempe, and Tucson have laws protecting LGBT residents from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodation. 
Equality and inclusion are not just concerns for the LGBT community - they are for everyone and all protected classes.
Half of the Mesa City Council and the seat of the Mayor will be up for grabs in this year's general election - not much diversity or inclusion there: "too vanilla' white guys mostly Mormon from the good-olé-boys crony entrenched political machine that has dominated local government for decades, no women, and the first elected Hispanic/Latino in over 135 years . . . and they say all say Mesa is diverse and all-inclusive?

Why are city laws important? Here's an excerpt from yesterday's report: "City laws are especially important, . . . because Arizona doesn’t have a statewide policy protecting against discrimination based on gender identity."

At least one city councilmember commented on what he interpreted as a "castigating tone" about the strong words used in the post here on 20 December.
With all due respect, he seemed to have the fear that guaranteeing the rights of all protected classes by the force of law with no religious exemption would interfere with his expression or freedom to practice his religion.
That's fine in private practice, but you cannot impose your religious beliefs while holding public office.

If public pressure and action is not enough to change local policy here in Mesa, businesses and corporations can take action, like the NFL and Emily's List did in a city in Indiana last year using their popular and economic clout to cancel events or expansion plans. Arizona's economy took a big hit when it held out approving Martin Luther King Day as a holiday for civil rights recognition.
In a crossposting with World Economic Forum The Human Rights Campaign published an article by Chad Griffin on January 07, 2016
How Businesses Are Standing Up for LGBT Rights
http://www.hrc.org/blog/how-businesses-are-standing-up-for-lgbt-rights
Chad Griffin, the leader of the United States’ largest LGBT civil rights organization, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), has witnessed the strength that private sector leaders can have in advancing equality. In advance of last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling establishing nationwide marriage equality for America’s same-sex couples, hundreds of businesses signed and submitted amicus, or friend of the court, briefs affirming their support for marriage equality.
The progress has been staggering. . . The results show that major businesses are not merely ensuring basic workplace fairness to LGBT employees in select locales, but are increasingly upholding LGBT-inclusive policies of non-discrimination wherever they do business: 95 percent of global CEI businesses have fully inclusive, globally applicable non-discrimination policies and/or codes of conduct that include both sexual orientation and gender identity.
He affirmatively asserts: As we move forward in the new, rapid economy of tomorrow, it is increasingly apparent that equality is more than “good” for business – it is absolutely essential
Businesses and global leaders who ignore LGBT equality do so at their own peril.
No executive wants to lose the next brilliant employee to a competitor simply because the business has not caught up with the times in terms of inclusive policies.
No executive wants to have to ask, “What if?” when assessing the loss of talent.
 
 








Around the world and here in the United States businesses have far outpaced lawmakers in embracing the basic premise that the hard work and talents of all their employees – regardless of who they are or whom they love – are rewarded fairly in their workplaces.