Denise Heap July 2012In Arizona, clash over LGBT rights plays out at city level
In Arizona, where no statewide equality safeguards exist for gay and transgender residents, the fight over whether to extend formal legal protections to those groups is playing out at the municipal level.
Only a few cities have been willing to step into the ring.
" . . Mesa began talks after a public-policy survey revealed discrimination continued to plague some of the city's minority groups. At a council study session in March, Mayor John Giles said he would be "interested in hearing from the community (about) what level of support there is" for each of the elements the ordinance could cover, such as hotels, restaurants and small businesses.
Longtime Mesa activist Denise Heap has urged adoption of a far-reaching ordinance, arguing the more holes poked into an anti-discrimination measure, the less effective it will be.
"We need this. We need it not just in hiring and employment and housing but also a totally inclusive policy in public accommodations," she told the Mesa City Council. "We need to ensure that every one of our residents and every one of our visitors ... is treated well when they visit the city."
[ Image Denise Heap June 2015 from Facebook https://m.facebook.com/denisea.heap/about ]
. . .In Mesa, Councilman Dave Richins said he wanted to be "really careful we don't create a law that can be used to, really, publicly shame someone if they don't want to make a wedding cake," referencing an Oregon case in which bakery owners who declined to make a same-sex couple's cake face tens of thousands of dollars in fines. . ."
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The Mesa where Dea Montague chose to make his home nearly 50 years ago was "kinder and gentler" — at least when it came to politics. "I remember a day when there were three people running for the same seat," the civic activist and lawyer said. "And they helped each other put up signs." Fast forward to recent elections to see why Montague speaks in the wistful past tense.
Take 2011, which saw the historic recall of then-state Senate President Russell Pearce, the Mesa Republican who wrote the contentious Senate Bill 1070 and got slammed for accepting nearly $40,000 in trips, tickets and other perks from the Fiesta Bowl. . .The recall signaled the majority of Mesa voters were ready to move away from Pearce's single-minded focus on immigration and to see legislators tackle a broader set of issues.
Prominent Mesa Mormons in particular lined up to support Lewis, who, like Pearce, is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Pearce's "enforcement only" policies ran contrary to the church's official position on immigration, they said. The following year, Pearce attempted a comeback. Lewis' seat had been drawn into another district, so SkyMall founder and moderate Republican Bob Worsley stepped in to run against Pearce. After a heated primary campaign, Worsley trounced Pearce with 56 percent of the vote. But the 44 percent of voters who had supported Pearce didn't evaporate.
This year, Worsley's District 25 re-election bid has placed him squarely in the middle of arguably the most hostile race of the primary-election season — and to many onlookers, its "centrist vs. far right" dynamic is a replay of 2012 and the 2011 recall.This time, Worsley's competitor is Ralph Heap, a prominent orthopedic surgeon and active LDS church member who believes government's role in strengthening the economy is "to stay out of the way."
Locally, the race represents a battle for the ideological soul of Mesa, where leaders have been trying to shake the city's extremist political image in the hope of attracting high-profile companies, economic-development opportunities and tourism. The race's dynamics mirror those playing out between moderate and far-right conservatives both at the Arizona Legislature and throughout the nation, . .There's a sort of a side battle that has been occurring for some time in the Republican Party, in terms of the conflict between the more institutional, or traditional, right and the far right," said Merrill, an independent. "The average Republican voter is fairly conservative, of course, but the extreme right of the party falls way to the right of the mainstream." [according to veteran pollster and Arizona political scientist Bruce Merrill.]
Merrill estimated "ultra-right-wing" residents make up about 20 percent of Mesa's population, but they tend to be represented in disproportionately large numbers come election day. Given the makeup of Arizona's 30 legislative districts, where Republicans dominate, the outcome in the primaries generally sets the direction for the next Legislature.
Heap supporter Tom Brown said, "The more I looked into it and did my homework, I started seeing that Heap's position on many things" — such as avoiding "crony capitalism" and eliminating a reliance on unions — "was much closer to what I was looking for, . ."
Worsley isn't hurting for supporters, however — in Mesa or elsewhere. He recently scored a rare endorsement from former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who said, "Arizona needs the conservative leadership and experience Bob possesses."
Worsley said he ran in 2012 on a platform of "elevating the policies and bills that we run at the Capitol" and overhauling the "image that, as a state, we are extremists."
"Create an inclusive, respectful, and equitable community."
 | The Human Relations Advisory Board advises the City Council about racial, religious, ethnic, cultural, disability or other human relations issues affecting the City of Mesa and delivery of City services to Mesa residents, businesses, and visitors.
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