Oakland Gay Rights Law Upheld

Oakland Gay Rights Law Upheld
by Matt Johns 365Gay.com Los Angeles Bureau

Posted: February 16, 2005 7:30 pm. ET
(Oakland, California) A lawsuit challenging Oakland's ordinance protecting the rights of gays and lesbians work for the city has been dismissed by a US District Court judge.

The suit was filed by a Christian employees group after the city removed anti-gay posters from bulletin boards in 2003.

Entitled “Preserve Our Workplace with Integrity,” the poster read, “Good News Employee Association is a forum for people of Faith to express their views on the contemporary issues of the day…with respect for the Natural Family, Marriage and Family Values.” The flyer, which was posted near a lesbian employee’s workspace, was in response to an e-mail sent to City employees which announced the time and place of a meeting of a new gay and lesbian employees’ association.

After receiving a complaint about the poster, the city removed it and distributed a copy of its anti-discrimination policy with a cover letter that explained that recently “staff has inappropriately posted printed materials that are in violation of (the policy). Specifically flyers were placed in public view which contained statements of a homophobic nature and were determined to promote sexual orientation-based harassment.”

The suit contended that the City’s policy was unconstitutionally overbroad and vague, that the defendants “promote homosexuality and its views on religion, and openly denounce Christian views which have been doctrine for thousands of years” and have “shown an unlawful preference for human secularism and homosexual world views.”

The suit argued that the City’s policies and actions resulted in numerous constitutional violations: First Amendment (free speech, right to peaceable assembly, right to privacy and free exercise of religious beliefs, and Establishment Clause—fostering excessive government entanglement with religion); Fifth Amendment (Takings Clause); Fourteenth Amendment (Due Process Clause, Equal Protection Clause); Ultra Vires Claim (beyond the power authorized by law), and Article I, Section 1 of the California Constitution.

United States District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker dismissed the case, ruling that “plaintiff’s First Amendment rights were not abridged…”

“The City of Oakland will tolerate no form of workplace harassment, whether it is based on sexual orientation, religion, gender, race, age or national origin, and we will fight vigorously to defend the policies and practices which protect employees from any form of discrimination,” said City Attorney John Russo.

“We are extremely gratified that the United States District Court recognized our right to maintain a productive work environment.”

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