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Memphis City Counselor Threatened Over Support For LGBT Equality

07/29/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Janis Fullilove, has received death threats multiple times, and even had a dead cat thrown on her lawn. The Councilwoman for Memphis is a supporter of workplace protections for lesbians and gays. The police are taking the threats seriously enough that they are patrolling the area around her home in greater numbers. Fullilove received four threatening calls on Tuesday, and all four mentioned a local non-discrimination ordinance that she supports. The ordinance would protect lesbians and gays from discrimination within the city government. Police are keeping a close eye on her and her family.

She reached out to Jonathan Cole of Tennessee Equality Project. According to Cole “She essentially said that they were threatening to kill her. It’s scary and our city needs to stand up to this kind of ugliness.” Cole believes that the threats are just another example of intolerance in Memphis.

Cole pointed out that what is happening with Fullilove highlights the need for this ordinance. “You don’t have to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender to be a victim of homophobia or transphobia. If a city councilwoman — a prominent person in city government — can experience this kind of threat and intimidation, what about the individual employees who work for the city who may be work for sanitation, or police or fire?” Cole has stated.

The ordinance comes up for a vote in the city council on 10 August. Fullilove is the sponsor of the bill, and according to Cole “her position is unchanged. She still believes in what she’s sponsoring.”

Memphis and Tennessee have horrible track records on LGBT rights. There have been several unsolved murders of transwoman in Memphis over the last two years. A lesbian was denied a driver’s license change not long ago as well.

Of course, this ordinance would not be necessary if Congress would pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act with all due haste instead of sputtering around, or at least give a decent explanation why it is stuck. According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, it was either ENDA or Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal, but that seems rather far fetched. The reality is that many Democrats have not been willing to fight hard enough to get the bills through, or at least make a case why they cannot get them through right now. Unfortunately, while the Human Rights Campaign has dithered in trying to get any legislation through by ineffectively lobbying for it, groups like GetEqual have been more apt to engage in ineffective and even counter productive “direct action” targeting allies instead of undecideds or opponents to the legislation.

Part of the problem with getting ENDA through now is the fact that the Republicans in the Senate have done a stellar job of delaying everything to the point where there is a log jam and priority bills such as those that keep the government funded are being given top priority.

http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-fullilove-death-threats-gay-ordinance,0,509816.story