Petition circulators Bridget Christensen (left) and Luann Larsen (center) gather signatures for the Let Lincoln Vote initiative on the so-called fairness ordinance during the weekly Haymarket Farmers Market on Saturday. Organizers turned in their petitions Monday. Â
KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star
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.
Margaret Reist, Journal Star file photo
Kay Siebler (right) hands in petitions in August 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.
Margaret Reist, Journal Star
Kay Siebler (right) hands in petitions 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.
A group determined to get the so-called fairness ordinance — the broad update to city code including protections for sexual orientation and gender identity — on the November ballot turned in more than 11,000 signatures Monday morning.
That’s nearly 20% more than the 8,846 they needed, though signatures must be verified by the Lancaster County Election Commissioner.
Kay Siebler, among those leading the effort, said they had more than 100 volunteers who stood outside the Department of Motor Vehicles, went to farmers markets and music venues and battled 100-degree temperatures to collect the signatures.
“It is an amazing group of volunteers who are not going to go away,†Siebler said. “It’s been a phenomenal process to see the heart and soul of the community through the volunteers.â€
The grassroots effort — called Let Lincoln Vote — started its petition drive in June, the latest effort to get additional protections in city code. The decision by organizers — many of whom have been fighting for protections for sexual orientation and gender identity for decades — to launch a ballot initiative was a surprise to many.
They made the decision after the City Council in February passed an ordinance with essentially the same expanded protections and then, following a successful referendum by opponents, rescinded it.
If the election commissioner verifies there are a sufficient number of signatures, the petitions go back to the City Clerk and the council again faces a choice: Put the ordinance in place or pass a resolution putting it on the ballot.
The timeline to get the issue on the November ballot is short: Election Commissioner Dave Shively said he needs a resolution from the council in hand by Sept. 1. And he’s already verifying signatures on three statewide ballot issues — medical marijuana, minimum wage and voter ID.
Siebler said organizers believe about 10% of the signatures will either be duplicates or people who live outside Lincoln, but are reassured by the 20% margin they've turned in. She said they will no longer circulate petitions, but if there are people who want to sign, she asked they contact organizers through the group’s website, .
The city ordinance in question is Title 11, the part of city code that covers equal protections in housing, employment and public accommodation overseen by the Lincoln Commission on Human Rights.
While the flashpoint has been expanding protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity — and the focus of opponents led by the Nebraska Family Alliance — the ordinance passed by the council, and the one put forward as part of the ballot initiative are significantly broader.
Both would update language and reorganize the section to clarify the process of the city Commission on Human Rights, add active military veterans as a protected class and update and strengthen disability protections.
Early on, a division within the ranks of supporters became evident.
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Before the council passed the ordinance — some transgender advocates warned that they would be targeted by opponents and that supporters weren’t adequately prepared to launch a campaign to counteract their well-organized efforts should the issue go to a public vote. Those arguments took on more momentum after a transgender advocate died by suicide.
And they ultimately succeeded in convincing the council, by a narrow vote, to rescind the ordinance it had just passed.
Siebler and others believe Lincoln voters will pass the fairness ordinance, which they explained to those they approached with petitions would include disability and military protections, as well as those for sexual orientation and gender identity.
Vicki Depenbusch, who was at City Hall on Monday morning, said she circulated petitions because she’s been fighting for protections for her 23-year-old son Jacob, who has autism, since he was a toddler.
She said she learned she had to fight for him when he was in school, and now that he’s an adult, employment and housing are an issue. The updated ordinance would help, she said.
“What this does is it puts it on a local level. If something comes up we don't need to go to federal court,†she said. “As a parent you do all you can do for your kids’ future, but this isn’t something we can do. This is something our community needs to do.â€
Marie Barrett, who spent 20 years in the Navy, is African American, has a disability and a son with a disability, said she circulated petitions because she falls under several of the areas protected.
“I’ve always believed everyone, no matter what affiliation you have, should have the same rights afforded them,†she said. She said she has a disability that people can’t see, and she’s had to fight for her rights. And having protections for active military and veterans at the local level is important.
Amos Sobotka, a transgender man who helped circulate petitions, said he was ecstatic to see the petition signatures keep rolling in.
Siebler said circulators had to do a lot of educating and they quickly pivoted away from calling it the fairness ordinance to the anti-discrimination initiative.
Barbara DiBernard, a retired University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor who has fought for such protections for decades both at the city level and at UNL, said those who worked to get a fairness ordinance passed 10 years ago, and then again this year, feel they did everything right, meeting with city leaders and attending meetings, and it’s time.
Concerns of the transgender community do matter, she said, and no one wants people to get hurt, just as no one wanted anyone to get hurt during the Civil Rights movement. But even now, she said, conservative leaders are chipping away at the Supreme Court decision that said the definition of sex includes sexual orientation and gender identity.
“Young trans people are not protected,†she said. “I also think we need to keep our message focused. We need to say, where is the hate, where is the danger coming from? It’s not from municipal code.â€
Petition circulators Bridget Christensen (left) and Luann Larsen (center) gather signatures for the Let Lincoln Vote initiative on the so-called fairness ordinance during the weekly Haymarket Farmers Market on Saturday. Organizers turned in their petitions Monday. Â
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.
Kay Siebler (right) hands in petitions in August 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.
Kay Siebler (right) hands in petitions 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.