Efforts to expand Kentucky’s Civil Rights Act are getting a boost from a Western Kentucky University legal scholar. History Professor Patti Minter is testifying Wednesday in Frankfort in support of a bill that would offer greater legal protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals.
Minter says Kentucky’s LGBT community shouldn’t face discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations, “It won’t be long before Americans all over the country will look back at using sexual orientation or gender identity as discriminatory categories, and say, ‘What were we thinking?’”
She says Kentucky can’t afford to drive away talented people who might find the state unwelcoming, “What if someone, because of sexual orientation or gender identity—who does not feel legally protected in their home communities—what if they just keep going and leave the state? That doesn’t do any of us any good.”
Minter acknowledges the bill faces an uphill climb in this year’s legislature. The Kentucky House Judiciary committee will hear testimony for and against the bill Wednesday at 11 a.m. Supporters of LGBT rights are holding a "Fairness Rally" at the state capitol rotunda following that hearing.