Here's my testimony supporting the Salem Human Rights Commission

This afternoon I submitted advance testimony to the City Council in support of the Salem Human Rights Commission's rejection of the plan to use a building owned by the LGBTQ-unfriendly Salem Alliance Church as a temporary home for the Salem Public Library.

Yeah, I'm wordy.

But I wanted to cover the arguments in favor of finding another location for a temporary library that wouldn't cause members of the LGBTQ communities in our town to stop going to the library for the 18 months or so it will take for renovations to the library building at the Civic Center to be completed.

I think I make a lot of sense.

But since I'm me, that's to be expected. My favorite part of the testimony didn't come from me. It came from three people who left some passionate reasons for why they signed the "Stand up for LGBTQ rights in Salem!" petition I started five days ago. 

I shared those reasons, which wonderfully reflected the Human Rights Commission statement in opposition to leasing the church-owned building. Here's what went off to the City of Salem today. (The formatting is a bit screwed-up due to copy and pasting from my email message.)
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TO: [email protected]
CC: [email protected]
SUBJECT: Testimony for July 22 City Council meeting

Here’s advance testimony for the Library Relocation agenda item that I’ve been told by City staff will be discussed, and possibly acted on, at the July 22 City Council meeting. 

(1) Submission of 227 petition signatures in support of the Salem Human Rights Commission. Last Friday, five days ago, I started a petition on the Care2 platform, “Stand up for LGBTQ rights in Salem!” The petition reads:

City officials want to temporarily house the Salem Public Library in a building owned by a church that rejects gay marriage and considers same-sex sex to be a sin. The Salem Human Rights Commission has taken a stand against this bad plan. 

 

Support the Commission and send a message to the City Council in support of LGBTQ rights by signing this petition. There are alternative places to temporarily house the library while renovations are made. On July 22, the City Council likely will discuss this issue.

 

The Human Rights Commission statement said:

 

"The Salem Human Rights Commission (Commission) is deeply concerned about the proposed lease of the property owned by the Salem Alliance Church for the temporary location of the Salem Public Library. 

 

The Commission values having a library that they can reasonably expect all persons will access, to be consistent with the purpose and intent of the City's Human Rights Code. The Commission believes that some members of the community, including some in LGBTQ communities, will not be comfortable accessing the space.

 

…The Commission respectfully requests that the City review the available properties for other potential options, and select another location, even if that location is not as ideal in cost or operations.”

Here’s a PDF file prepared by Care2 of the petition as it stands now, Wednesday afternoon. I’ll submit updated results at the July 22 City Council meeting. 

 

Download FIrst 227 stand-up-for-lgbtq-rights-in-salem_071719-2

 

City Recorder, please print out the 11 pages of the petition's PDF file as part of my advance testimony. It contains many comments submitted by signers that explain why they support this petition that often are quite moving,

 

Here’s three of the comments from petition signers who live in Salem. They echo the concerns expressed by the Human Rights Commission.

"If the Salem Alliance Church wants to be against same sex marriage then so be it. However, our tax dollars should not go to this church. The city would be funding their anti LGBTQ views. NO, NO, NO to this location being the temporary home of the Salem Library. Why should my tax dollars go to an organization who believes my marriage is wrong and immoral??? My family will stop using the library if the city insists on housing the library on the property of this homophobic organization."

 

"The discriminatory practices of Salem Alliance Church and harmful, derogatory beliefs held by the pastor directly affect the lives of myself and my loved ones in negative ways. While I support the missions of Broadway on a broader spectrum, I do not want to support city money going towards the Salem Alliance Church."

 

"The city should not house any public and publicly funded operations in private holdings, especially ecclesiastical holdings, even temporarily. The particular church in question, while doing many things that do serve the community at large, is anti LGBTQ+ in it's practices. Housing the library in a building owned by a church that gives to the community with one hand while actively preaching against the equality of specific members of that community will make those members of the community hesitate to use library services for the duration of the situation. There are many large, empty buildings in Salem, surely one can be found for a reasonable price that doesn't belong to a discriminatory entity."

I want to note that one of the petition signers is Jim Scheppke, an avid supporter of the library who worked hard to pass the bond measure that is funding the renovation of the Salem Public Library. He was director of the Library for the State of Oregon for 20 years. Here’s Scheppke’s comment:

"Our library has enough problems as it is. It doesn't need to alienate a significant portion of our community (and for good reason). Take the time to find another site for the temporary library."

Since the petition was shared on social media, signers are from a wide variety of places. However, 157 of the first 227 signers have a Salem or Keizer address, with many more being from nearby areas such as Silverton, Albany, Turner, and such.

 

(2) Human Rights Commission statement. Though members of the City Council and other City officials likely have read the statement of the Salem Human Rights Commission, I wanted to be sure that it is entered into the record. Here it is, in both PDF and print form.

Download HRC statement on the Library relocation

 

Salem Human Rights Commission statement concerning the potential lease of property owned by the Salem Alliance Church for the temporary relocation of the Salem Public Library.

 

The Salem Human Rights Commission (Commission) is deeply concerned about the proposed lease of the property owned by the Salem Alliance Church for the temporary location of the Salem Public Library. The Commission values having a library that they can reasonably expect all persons will access, to be consistent with the purpose and intent of the City’s Human Rights Code. The Commission believes that some members of the community, including some in LGBTQ communities, will not be comfortable accessing the space.

 

The purpose of the Commission is to promote harmonious relations within the city, examine sources of tension, practices of discrimination and act of prejudice in the city, and make recommendations concerning solutions to specific problems of prejudice or discrimination. The Commission will continue to be available for reports of discrimination in the community.

 

The Commission fully understands and supports freedom of religion and expression for all people, including faith based organizations. One of the Commission’s roles is to actively assist persons who experience discrimination based upon religion.

This commitment to freedom of religion, however, does not allow for the Commission to be in support of this business transaction. It is offensive to some members of the Salem community for the City to enter into a contract with, and pay money to, an entity that may be experienced as unwelcoming to members of the LGBTQ community.

The Commission strongly supports and appreciates the mission and programing of the Salem Public Library. The Library plays a critical role in providing a welcoming and supportive environment for all members of the community, particularly members of the community that are vulnerable, our youth, and those of limited means. Locating the Library at the proposed site will result in a Library that some members of the community, not only the LGBTQ, will not be willing to visit, and will negatively impact the Library’s mission.

The Commission has been informed that this location is the only adequate property available for the Library relocation, and that if the City does not use this space, only the west Salem library branch will be open during the renovation.

The Commission respectfully requests that the City review the available properties for other potential options, and select another location, even if that location is not as ideal in cost or operations. In the event that the City must use this location, the Commission recommends that the City Council publicly proclaim the City’s support and adherence to the purpose and intent of the City’s Human Rights Code, particularly as applied to the LGBTQ community, and urge all of the city’s residents to support and encourage a city free of discriminatory barriers. Further, the City should affirm that the City, particularly the Library, is open and welcoming to all members of the Community, and that the City is committed to ensuring that the Library will remain so during its relocation. The Commission and the LGBTQ Task Force is committed to working with  the Salem Public Library to develop options to make the Library’s temporary space accessible, welcoming and inclusive to all.

Approved by the Human Rights Commission July 2, 2019

______________________________________ Danielle Meyer, Chair,

on behalf of the Human Rights Commission 

(3) My testimony regarding the Human Rights Commission statement. It is important to note that the clear preference of the Commission is for City officials to find another location for a temporary library other than the church-owned Capital Press building, even if that alternative costs more and is less efficient in terms of library operations.

 

The key reason for this stand by the Human Rights Commission is that members of the LGBTQ communities will not be comfortable accessing the church-owned space, and some will avoid going to the library altogether during the 18 months or so the temporary space will be used.

 

I’ve heard arguments that the City of Salem contracts with other religious organizations, so why not the Salem Alliance Church? Well, the Salem Public Library is unique among social services provided by the City of Salem. It is intended to be a welcoming place for everyone in the community. Repeat, everyone. 

 

The Library Renovation Subcommittee of the City Council spent considerable time at its June meeting discussing the fact of the Salem Alliance Church being opposed to LGBTQ rights, and how this would impact use of the library if the Capital Press building was leased as a temporary library location.

 

I heard it said on the audio recording of the meeting (written minutes aren’t available) that the situation is akin to why some people refuse to shop at Walmart, Amazon, Hobby Lobby, or such. It isn’t that these places aren’t welcoming to everybody, since they embrace anybody with cash to spend. 

 

Rather, people have objections to certain practices followed by these organizations, including how they treat their employees, their effect on other businesses, their commitment to social justice/equity (or lack thereof), and so on. The same applies if the City of Salem were to use the church-owned building as a temporary library.

 

What bothers many people, including me, is that the Salem Alliance Church considers LGBTQ people to be second-class citizens. Perhaps this sounds overly harsh. I disagree. Bigotry is bigotry, whether it is practiced by a religious organization or anyone else.

 

If a corporation made it known that they oppose same-sex marriage and consider same-sex sex to be a sin, wouldn’t people who support LGBTQ rights be justified in boycotting that corporation? Why should bigotry founded in a controversial interpretation of the Old Testament be exempt from such outrage? 

 

At the June meeting of the Library Renovation Committee meeting, city councilor Jim Lewis had a “love it or leave it” attitude toward those who oppose the City of Salem paying the Salem Alliance Church for a lease on the Capital Press building. Lewis said:

"This is a business transaction. The church has a right to work within its rules. Our job here is to find the best facility for the library. And if that means someone won't go to it, so be it."

That led someone else to respond:

"I disagree. We have an obligation to make sure we have a space that is open and welcoming to the community. I'm not saying that we shouldn't go there [to the church-owned building]. I'm just saying we have a [Human Rights] Commission. We have a process. If there are things we can do to help mitigate those concerns, I think we should do them."

So City staff went to meetings of both the LGBTQ Human Rights Task Force of the Human Rights Commission and the Commission itself. They explained how welcoming and inclusive the temporary library would be, given that it would be run by City of Salem employees.

 

Then they got the response back from the Human Rights Commission expressed in the statement above.

 

"The Commission respectfully requests that the City review the available properties for other potential options, and select another location, even if that location is not as ideal in cost or operations."

 

So given that the Library Renovation Subcommittee of the City Council decided to ask the Human Rights Commission how it felt about use of the church-owned building for a temporary library, and the Commission basically said find another place, even if it costs more and is less efficient, the burden now is on City officials to prove that no other building in Salem exists that has 16,000 square feet or so of available space. 

(That’s the size of the Capital Press building.)

The City Council is faced with a difficult decision. Three options appear open to the Council, none of them ideal.

 

A. Select a location for the temporary library that doesn’t carry with it the baggage of the property being owned by an organization opposed to LGBTQ rights. This is the preference of the Human Rights Commission, which I agree with.

 

B. Enter into a lease with the Salem Alliance Church to use the Capital Press building as a temporary library. This will lead many in the LGBTQ communities to avoid going to the library, and will send a signal that the City of Salem doesn’t fully endorse LGBTQ rights.

 

C. Require citizens to use the West Salem branch of the library while renovations are being made to the library’s main Civic Center building. This would be better than no library at all for 18 months.

 

I hope you choose option A above. 

 

Sincerely, Brian Hines