The American dream must include them, and they should get the same things everyone else has. Young gay people just accept this as their due. "But today's generation is fueled by a sense of entitlement. "My generation was fueled by anger," Whaley says. 15 on the list, with 4.3 percent, which is higher than rates in New York City, Miami and Chicago. In March, Gallup released a ranking of the nation's top 50 metropolitan areas, based on the population of adults who identify as LGBT. The city's LGBT-friendly reputation isn't merely anecdotal. The local tourism bureau markets it, corporations brag about it and city politicians back it-it's become another badge used to attract a younger, more enlightened generation of residents.
Three decades later, Columbus prides itself on being a place where residents are not only tolerant but supportive of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. When Whaley took the stand, he predicted, "There will come a day where this will be considered as silly a matter as discriminating against blacks or women." "That's exactly what happened," says Douglas Whaley, a law professor who helped draft the ordinance 30 years ago and testified that day in its favor. Today, those words-captured in a grainy video-are so pointed they elicit a jaw drop. He closes with a rhetorical question: "Who in the world wants Columbus to be known as the gay capital of the Midwest?" They'll realize they can be protected in Columbus." Homosexuals from surrounding states will flock here.
"I believe if we pass it, it'll give Columbus a bad name. "I can't believe that the great city of Columbus is considering the passage of a bill of this nature," another speaker, also a preacher, shouts.
You don't let a leper person in among clean people." The AIDS crisis was in full swing, exacerbating anti-gay sentiments. "They should not be forced to be hired in to spread diseases that have no cure-it's foolishness. "Homosexuality is an unclean practice," the preacher spits, his voice rising as blood rushes to his face. A preacher is the first to take the stand. Council members have agreed to hear testimony from opponents and proponents. It's 1984, and an ordinance that would bar employers from discriminating based on sexual orientation has been brought to City Hall.