GAY RIGHTS

GAY RIGHTS. In 1977 Dubuque citizens who lost their jobs because of age became the concern of the Dubuque Human Rights Commission which had been formed in 1967. The commissioners unanimously voted to ask the city council to broaden the commission's powers beyond race, sex, and physical cases which were covered by local ordinances. (1) The history of adding gay rights to the protected classes was protracted.

The first gay march was held in Dubuque on September 19, 1987. Hecklers who shouted obscenities and threw eggs and rocks met an estimated thirty marchers. Organizers of the march included Stacie Neldaughter and Ginny Lynns.

The second gay march occurred in May 1988, with an estimated 575 participants. In August of that year more than 1,000 opponents of a gay rights ordinance in Dubuque petitioned the city council and human rights commission "not to spend further time, energy, or tax dollars on this outrage." Conservative activist Sandy Kirkbride circulated the petition to Evangelical and Catholic church, Knights of Columbus and other groups. The human rights commission on August 8, 1988 rejected a proposal to add sexual orientation to protected categories under the city's human rights ordinance, but decided to continued investigating the issue. Gay rights supporters petitioned the city council which was expected to refer the issued back to the human rights commission for a recommendation. (2)

Sandy Kirkbride led a petition drive to have the city council place the any changes on a referendum. On January 20, 1989 Tom O'Neill, the Dubuque County deputy elections commissioner replied that Iowa law did not allow either a city council or a petition of residents to take such an action. (3)

The third annual Gay/Lesbian Pride Rally / March was held Saturday, September 16, 1989. An estimated one-third of the participants in the 1988 march attended the event that included a march through downtown Dubuque and a rally in WASHINGTON PARK featuring a speech by Tammy Baldwin of Madison, Wisconsin. (4)

On May 15, 1989 the Dubuque city council by a 4-3 vote narrowly defeated a proposal that would have prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing, accommodations and credit. Those not supporting the proposal cited a variety of arguments for their vote. Mayor Brady said he "did not believe we have the right to force someone to house them or employ them." One councilman remarked that the proposal was the "wrong approach" because human rights laws traditionally protected people based on characteristics over which people had no choice. He continued that 'he'd never seen evidence to prove homosexuality was not chosen.' Those supporting the proposal compared homosexuals' problems to that of blacks before the 1960s civil rights movement. (5) Had the ordinance passed, Dubuque would have been only the second Iowa community, after Iowa City, to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. (6)

A repeat of 1989 occurred in 1999 when a recommendation called for an ordinance prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals in the areas of housing, employment, education, public accommodations and credit was rejected by the city council. Despite a Telegraph Herald editorial in February 2004 urging the Dubuque Human Rights Commission and its Sexual Orientation Subcommittee, the groups responded by preparing a report. Entitled "People We All Know," the report included testimonials from the gay and lesbian communities as well as business, political and religious leaders. The subcommittee planned to publish a booklet containing information from the report, several months of public awareness, and a petition drive before taking the recommendation to the council. A public hearing was also planned, something the council five years previously did not hold. (7)

In June, 2004 at the regular monthly AFL-CIO delegates voted in favor of approving the addition sexual orientation to the ordinance. Unanimous approval was given to the motion which stated:

               Following in the tradition of its strong support for workers' rights,
               the Dubuque Federal of Labor, AFL-CIO urges members of the Dubuque City
               Council to help eliminate discrimination in our community by amending
               the city code of ordinance to include sexual orientation as a category
               of prohibited discriminatory behavior. (8)

The Dubuque League of Women Voters hosted a forum on December 7, 2004 in the auditorium of the CARNEGIE-STOUT PUBLIC LIBRARY for speakers on each side of the issue. The League planned to record the forum for replay on Dubuque community access channes 15 and 16 before a city council vote expected in January in changing the ordinance. (9)

Despite the public awareness program and the forum, the gay rights ordinance was rejected again in 2005. (10)

The historic vote did not occur until February, 2006. Reportedly taking no more than a minute, the council approved adding sexual orientation as a protected class in the city's human rights ordinance on a 6-1 vote. The change provided legal recourse for anyone denied housing, employment, credit, education, or service at a public accommodation because of sexual orientation. The change did give an exemption for religious education institutions in cases of employment. (11) Karla Braig, the Second Ward council member, was a member of the Dubuque Human Rights Commission which first wrote the ordinance change nearly twenty years previously. (12)

In 2017 recognition of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Month, events were sponsored by local businesses and nonprofits. Pride Month was observed in June in recognition of the Stonewall Inn riots of 1969 in Manhattan. The site, later named a National Historic Site, was a gathering place for members of the gay community. CO DUBUQUE was founded to provide a local network for Dubuque's LGBT and allied community. (13)

Members of the Dubuque Human Rights Commission were angered and saddened to learn of anti-gay graffiti being found in the city. The offensive remarks were found on the sidewalk and a utility pole in the 1300 block of Cox Street. It was found on June 11th, one day and one year after the June 12, 2016 mass killing of forty-nine people at the Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Kelly Larson, director of the City of Dubuque Human Rights Department noted that the city has an internal hate incident response plan. According to Larson, the city was technically the victim of the graffiti incident. It was not a hate crime, because it did not target an individual. Among the resources for those needing support or education, the MULTICULTURAL FAMILY CENTER offered youth support groups on the second Thursday of each month and adult groups on the fourth Thursday. There were also the Better Together Dubuque page on Facebook and ThisIsMeIowa.org website. (14)

The announcement was made in February, 2018 that a CLARKE UNIVERSITY social work student was organizing a storytelling project focusing on sharing the experiences of members of Dubuque's LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) community. After interviews with storytellers, writers were to compose first-person accounts based on the conversations. The stories were to be collected and published in a book. Suzie Stroud, who partnered with INCLUSIVE DUBUQUE to organize the project called "Facing Diversity" which collected stories from Dubuque,'s Marshallese community, led the new project. She hoped to have the book published by June, "Pride Month," and then perhaps collect stories of local immigrants or refugees. (15)

Solidarity Mural

In response to the racial equality protests across the United States in the spring of 2020, the “SOLIDARITY” mural was completed on July 2 on the Main Street side of Five Flags Center. In the mural measuring 28 feet high and 105 feet wide, artist Shelby Fry envisioned showed support for the Black Lives Matter movement and other segments of the community and to promote unity. Some of the symbols used as letters are meant to include those with disabilities (the wheelchair symbol), brain health issues (the first “i,” which is a semicolon, which are commonly associated with brain health), the LGBTQ community (the rainbow “D”) and transgendered individuals (the symbol serving as the “y”).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YPv79pvotE Actual banner carried in 1987 stained with eggs thrown by hecklers. Image courtesy: Stacie Neldaughter.

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Source:

1. Freund, Bob, "Dubuque Civil Rights Panel to Handle Age Suits," Telegraph Herald, October 13, 1977, p. 17

2. Kirchen, Rich, "Gay Rights Ordinance Opponents Petition City," Telegraph Herald, August 13, 1988, p. 25

3. Kirchen, Rich, "'Gay Rights' Ordinance Illegal for Referendum," Telegraph Herald, January 20, 1989, p. 12

4. Stacie Neldaughter-interview 2/3/2014

5. Kirchen, Rich, "Council Rejects Gay Rights Plan," Telegraph Herald, May 16, 1989, p. 1

6. Kirchen, Rich, ""Gay Rights: Defeated, Not Dead," Telegraph Herald, May 18, 1989, p. 1

7. Kittle, M. D. "Group Tired of Waiting for Waiting for Law to Protect Gays," Telegraph Herald, February 12, 2004, p. 1 8. "AFL-CIO Backs Sexual Orientation Ordinance," Telegraph Herald, June 23, 2004, p. 1

9. "Forum Topic: Adding Sex Orientation to Law," Telegraph Herald, December 4, 2004, p. 1

10. Kundert, Rob, "Human Rights Ordinance on Agenda," Telegraph Herald, February 6, 2006, p. 1

11. "Council OKs Changing Human Rights Statute," Telegraph Herald, February 12, 2006, p. 27

12. Kundert, Rob, "Change Comes After 18 Years," Telegraph Herald, February 8, 2006, p. 1

13. Goldstein, Bennet. "LGBT Pride Month Events in Dubuque," Telegraph Herald, June 8, 2017, p. 5A

14. Rezab, Matthew. "Commission Responds to Anti-Gay Graffiti," Telegraph Herald, June 17, 2017, p. 3A

15. Goldstein, Bennet, "Project Will Highlight LGBTQ Dubuquers," Telegraph Herald, February 3, 2018, p. 3A