YEO Front Line News- March 2009- Special Feature by Ezra Temko

Creating an Inclusive Community

By City Councilman Ezra Temko (Newark, Delaware)

One of the bedrocks of progressive values is that our government should work for everyone.  Our movement is rooted in a commitment to community, and our communities are enhanced by and bridged across people of many walks of life.  I have been involved in LGBTQ work in the past, such as in college where I worked to expand all-gender housing options.  However, this past year equality issues have become much more personal to me and I have been working on the city council to make sure that Newark, Del. is an inclusive community.

I met and fell in love with my boyfriend Drew this past summer, and quickly realized the privilege I had always taken for granted in relationship recognition and the associated benefits.  It made me feel a great sense of urgency regarding equal rights issues.  Since, I have become much more involved in equal rights work in Delaware.  It also brought back to the forefront some discussions I had been having about our city's policies.

I offered four motions to Newark's City Council.  The first was to add "gender identity and expression" to our city's personnel policy in its section on protected classes for nondiscrimination.  Sexual orientation had already been added as a result of former councilman and YEO Kevin Vonck. 

As well, I offered three additional motions that city staff will research and report back to the council on.  Council votes on these types of motions, if there is agreement on the principles behind the issues, get the details worked out before council.  The first of these motions was to add domestic partner benefits for city employees.  The second was a suggestion by a member of the ACLU of Delaware to create a life partner registry.  Domestic or life partner registries are a form of relationship recognition that municipalities can offer and often includes health care visitation rights for partners.  The final motion, which was requested by a Newark resident, is a broader nondiscrimination measure.  The intent is to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression within city limits for employment, public accommodations, and housing.  We have had a bill before the state legislature that would do the same, but it has been stymied for the past 10 years.  Hopefully, Newark can provide these needed protections within our local jurisdiction, and provide an example for the state.

The council meeting in which we discussed these motions was one of my most memorable meetings.  I felt very humbled to be able to bring these motions forth, and thereby serve as a convener for people to come and share their stories and support. The LGBTQ, university, Unitarian Universalist, and the broader community filled every seat in council chambers.  Everyone in attendance spoke in support, except for one person: my opponent during my election.  The City Council unanimously adopted all four motions. 

I believe we are the only municipality in Delaware to offer protections based on gender identity and expression - a title I hope we will not hold long as our action has prompted other municipalities to look at their policies.  We will be reviewing the staff reports on the other three motions in May.

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