Supporters of expanding protections under Lincoln's city code to include sexual orientation and gender identity — as well as active military and veterans — Friday filed a second ballot initiative in an effort to get the question on the May general election ballot.
The initiative is the second one circulated by the group, which calls itself Let Lincoln Vote, and is the latest move in what’s been a hotly debated issue for nearly a year.
“We believe Lincoln, given the opportunity to vote on these amendments, will vote to be inclusive, caring and protective of people who are marginalized due to military status, veteran status, disability, race, national origin, marital status and sex,†the group said in a prepared statement.
The supporters filed similar paperwork this summer and collected about 11,000 signatures — more than the 8,846 needed — but the Lancaster County Election Commissioner threw out the petitions, determining they did not include a statement in red ink indicating whether petition circulators were paid or volunteer, as required by state law.
This summer, volunteers camped out on sidewalks to collect the signatures. This time, said Kay Siebler, one of the group's leaders, it will be easier.
They have a database of all the registered voters who signed the first time around, she said, so they plan to have volunteers go to those voters’ homes and ask them to sign again.
They also will have more time, she said, since the city's general election isn’t until May 2. The election commissioner couldn't be reached Friday to determine what the group's deadline will be for submitting signatures.
The fate of the Fairness Ordinance has been in flux for nearly a year, since the City Council first passed a broad update to the city’s municipal code dealing with equal opportunity in February.
The ordinance expanded protections in housing, employment and public accommodation to include sexual orientation and gender expression, as well as active military and veterans. It also updated definitions of marriage, race and natural origin, strengthened definitions and updated disability protections.
Opponents, led by the Nebraska Family Alliance, mounted a successful referendum petition drive, gathering enough signatures to force the council to either rescind the ordinance or put the question to voters.
There was division among supporters: Some transgender advocates warned early on that they would be targeted by opponents and argued that supporters didn’t have the organization or financing in place to successfully counteract well-organized and well-funded opponents.
In June, the council narrowly voted to rescind the ordinance and Let Lincoln Vote began its petition drive. In August, the Election Commission office determined the petitions were invalid.
In October, Siebler — accompanied by a large group of supporters — presented the City Council with the signatures she said they’d self-verified with a database of voters.
She argued that state law governing initiative petitions doesn’t apply to charter-run cities such as Lincoln, rather it is governed by the city charter. And the city charter, she said, doesn’t specify who must verify the signatures.
The council accepted the signatures but has not provided any private response to the group or in a formal statement from the dais.
So Let Lincoln Vote decided to move forward with one again gathering signatures, Siebler said.
Before February, the issue had remained dormant for a decade, after a different council passed a more narrowly worded Fairness Ordinance, then didn’t act either to rescind it or put it on the ballot after a successful referendum petition by opponents.
Kay Siebler (right) hands in petitions in August 2022 for the Let Lincoln Vote group, which gathered signatures to let Lincoln voters decide whether the city should enact a fairness ordinance to expand discrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity.