City leaders across West Virginia voiced their opposition to a resolution that would amend the state Constitution to prohibit cities and towns from passing nondiscrimination ordinances extending protections to the LGBT community.
Introduced last week by Majority Whip Craig Blair, Senate Joint Resolution 13 would prohibit counties and municipalities from passing an ordinance that creates a protected classification not included in state law.
Because West Virginia's Human Rights Act doesn't include protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity, eight cities have adopted their own ordinances to extend protections from discrimination to the LGBT community.
Many of those city leaders contend that the West Virginia Legislature has no business controlling the affairs of local elected bodies.
The resolution doesn't mention if cities with existing nondiscrimination ordinances would be grandfathered in if it passes or if those ordinances would be invalidated.
Blair said he introduced the resolution so that companies doing business would be subject to consistent nondiscrimination laws, but Charleston Mayor Danny Jones said such legislation would have “the exact opposite effect.”
“These companies don't want any part of that controversy,” Jones said.
Jones said he believes people in LGBT communities tend to live in urban areas, such as Charleston.
“Cities have made an effort not to discriminate, [and to] recognize them as members of constituencies,” he said.
Charleston adopted an ordinance extending nondiscrimination protections to the LGBT community in 2007.
Jones called the resolution “very hurtful and unnecessary,” but added that such measures have become “what we expect out of the social agenda” of some legislators.
Lewisburg Mayor John Manchester said the argument of nondiscrimination ordinances repelling companies from doing business “never rose at all” during that city's five-hour public hearing on Feb. 1. The Lewisburg City Council voted unanimously after that hearing to pass a such an ordinance.
“Cloaking this resolution in pro-business clothing is ridiculous,” Manchester said. “Businesses looking to relocate or expand in West Virginia can see through this type of resolution, just as clearly as voters can.”
Manchester added that the resolution contradicts the Legislature's active support for Home Rule, which gives municipalities more autonomy in deciding locally driven issues.
Steve Williams, the mayor of Huntington, shared similar views.
“We're perfectly capable of making our own decisions,” he said of local governments. “Businesses coming in understand there are different regulations and standards that different communities have.”
Huntington passed a nondiscrimination ordinance extending protections to LGBT communities in 2013, seven years after a similar bill failed.
“We have much bigger problems to worry about than whether someone loves someone of the same gender,” Williams said. “We have a drug epidemic we have to fight and jobs we're seeking to create.”
What's right for one city might not be for another, he added.
“There is no need for the Legislature to worry about what a community determines through their elected representatives is appropriate.”
Attempts to reach Blair for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.