By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green City Council was seconds away from voting on an inclusion resolution Monday when the lone Republican on council stopped the process – to make the resolution more inclusive.
The resolution proclaims the city is a welcoming, safe and inclusive community for all residents, including immigrants, refugees and people from diverse races, ethnic backgrounds, cultures and religions.
Council had minutes earlier discussed waiving the rules and giving the resolution its second and third readings Monday evening, then proceeding to a vote.
But council member Bob McOmber stopped the process. He mentioned the public comments made earlier in the meeting by citizens who wanted the LGBT community and people with disabilities included in the resolution.
“I’m not comfortable with it the way it is,” McOmber said. “I’d rather err on the side of being overly inclusive.”
Others on council agreed, and the resolution was tabled so it could be reworded and come back before council at its next meeting.
The resolution has its roots in local concerns about national treatment of immigrants. Council member Daniel Gordon said it was the first step on the city’s path toward becoming a “welcoming community” for immigrants.
Gordon said the resolution was written specifically with the immigrant population in mind. He noted the recently passed anti-Islamaphobia resolution also didn’t include the LGBT community, which is already protected under a city ordinance.
But two community groups which had worked on the latest resolution – La Conexion and the Human Rights Commission – both agreed that expanding the wording to include more people was a good idea.
“We wholeheartedly support making the language as inclusive as possible,” Emily Monago, of the Human Rights Commission, said during Monday’s meeting.
Also asking for the LGBT community to be added to the resolution was Gwen Andrix, who is transgender. She talked about growing efforts across the nation to limit inclusiveness for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender populations.
“They want to eliminate our access to public accommodations,” she said. “With the mood of the country right now, I’m feeling less safe.”
Andrix praised Bowling Green as being a “wonderful, accepting place,” and suggested expanding the resolution would further enhance city efforts.
Carmen Dworsky also spoke up for adding the LGBT community and people with disabilities to the resolution. “It really matters to people,” she said.
Council member Bruce Jeffers acknowledged changes in the country. “Many of us are concerned about the national movement.”
He also acknowledged the fact that some people may not appreciate the city’s efforts to be more inclusive.
“Some people don’t like us making too many resolutions,” Jeffers said. Those people may be thinking, “There go those liberals again.”
“We are trying to plan for a better community,” and attract younger residents, he said. “We want all kinds of people to feel welcome here. We have a lot to learn and a lot to gain.”
Council member Scott Seeliger also commended the work behind the resolution. But he also expressed some concerns about city council passing resolutions that address national problems.
“It may be misinterpreted as problems we have in Bowling Green,” Seeliger said. “There are many cities trying to be what Bowling Green already is.”
Seeliger suggested that the passage of such resolutions should “endorse what we already are.”
