Dew v. Edmunds et al

Filing 30

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER granting 19 Defendant's Motion to Dismiss and the Amended Complaint (Dkt. 4 ) is DISMISSED without prejudice. Plaintiff may file an amended complaint by 11/6/2015. If Plaintiff does not amend his Complaint within that time period, Counts I, II, IV, and V will be dismissed with prejudice, and Count III will be dismissed without prejudice.Signed by Judge Candy W. Dale. (Attachments: # 1 Appendix) (caused to be mailed to non Registered Participants at the addresses listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) by (cjs)

Heated gay rights debate continues in Missouri and many other states | The Kansas City S... Page 1 of 4

Government & Politics APRIL 19, 2015

Heated gay rights debate continues in
Missouri and many other states

File photo
BY JASON HANCOCK
[e-mail]

JEFFERSON CITY — Ron Calzone came to the Missouri Capitol
on Wednesday to stand up for his “God-given freedom” to
discriminate.
“Everyone’s afraid to say this, so I’m going to say it,” Calzone, a
rancher from Maries County in south-central Missouri and director
of conservative think tank Missouri First, told a House committee.
“In America, you have a right to discriminate as a private citizen.
In America, if you don’t like the color of someone’s eyes or their
hair or the way they talk, you have the right to not associate with
them.”
Lawmakers were discussing a bill making it illegal in Missouri to
discriminate against someone based on sexual orientation or
gender identity just weeks after voters in Springfield narrowly
voted to repeal a local nondiscrimination ordinance.
Calzone, a regular fixture in the halls of the Missouri Statehouse,
complained that such laws are simply government overreach.
“I have the God-given freedom,” he said, “to discriminate as a
private individual against anyone for any reason I want to.”
Calzone may believe God granted Americans the right to
discriminate, but at least when it comes to traits such as race,
gender or ethnicity, decades of civil rights law begs to differ.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article18993843.html

9/16/2015

Heated gay rights debate continues in Missouri and many other states | The Kansas City S... Page 2 of 4

Now, in the Missouri General Assembly and state capitols across
the country, a debate is broiling over whether sexual orientation
should receive that same level of legal protection.
“Discrimination is wrong,” said Rep. Stephen Webber, a Columbia
Democrat. “When we find it, we should stop it. When the state
allows that, we should fix it.”
Over the last decade, the landscape on gay rights has shifted
rapidly across the nation. What was once considered unthinkable
is becoming increasingly commonplace, from gay men and
women being allowed to serve openly in the military to the
potential for the U.S. Supreme Court to legalize same-sex
marriage this year in all 50 states.
Despite that change, 29 states — including Missouri and Kansas
— have no statewide law barring discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation or gender identity. That means a person can be
fired from a job, evicted from an apartment or kicked out of a
restaurant for being gay or being perceived to be gay.
Proponents have found that enacting those protections remains
an uphill struggle.
Opponents worry such legislation will force religious businesses
and individuals to violate their faith, a debate that played out on
the national stage recently in Indiana. Corporate America has
largely embraced gay rights, but some business groups continue
to raise concerns that creating more protected classes could lead
to a deluge of litigation for employers.
And while the U.S. Supreme Court might legalize same-sex
marriage this year, its 2014 ruling that a corporation cannot be
forced to violate the religious beliefs of its owner created new legal
avenues for those seeking to stem the tide of gay rights
momentum.
Resistance at the Statehouse has forced Missouri gay rights
advocates to turn to local government. More than a dozen cities
and counties in Missouri, including Kansas City and Jackson
County, have passed ordinances prohibiting discrimination based
on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Springfield, Missouri’s third-largest city, joined their ranks in
October, passing a nondiscrimination law after more than two
years of debate.
Supporters didn’t have long to celebrate.
Located in the state’s conservative southwestern Bible Belt,
Springfield is home to the headquarters of the Assemblies of God
church. So it came as little surprise that evangelical groups
worked quickly to garner signatures to place a repeal of the
ordinance on the April ballot.
Calvin Morrow, the executive director of Christians Uniting for
Political Action, a group that participated in the repeal effort, told
The New York Times that such laws “target Christians.”
“The target,” he said, “was painted on the church.”
In addition to trumpeting the idea that the Springfield ordinance
infringed on religious freedom, proponents of repeal stoked fears
that the law would ultimately result in cross-dressing sexual
predators lurking in the women’s restroom.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article18993843.html

9/16/2015

Heated gay rights debate continues in Missouri and many other states | The Kansas City S... Page 3 of 4

“Vote for the repeal, because it allows biological males to use
women’s restrooms, showers and locker rooms,” Charles Flowers,
a Texas-based pastor, said in a video produced by the pro-repeal
organization.

The repeal campaign focused on “manipulation and scare tactics,”
said Stephanie Perkins, deputy director of the lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender advocacy group PROMO.
“This is not an attack on religious freedom,” she said. “It has
nothing to do with bathroom privacy.”
After six months of campaigning, the ordinance was repealed by a
razor thin margin of only 850 votes out of nearly 30,000 ballots.
Krista Moncado has lived in Springfield for 15 years and is a
former director of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of the
Ozarks. She said the repeal of the ordinance was, “of course,
disappointing.” But she said “progress happens in fits and starts.
It’s always two steps forward, one step back.”
In 2004, more than 70 percent of voters in the community
supported an amendment to the state’s constitution banning
same-sex marriage.
“To go from that” Moncado said, “to almost 50 percent voting
against discrimination, that’s actually pretty huge.”
Attention will now focus on the General Assembly, she said, and
efforts to pass a statewide nondiscrimination ordinance in
Missouri. But with less than a month to go before the legislature
adjourns for the year, the measure faces long odds.
In Kansas, opponents of gay rights legislation have the
momentum. Republican Gov. Sam Brownback gained national
attention earlier this year when he issued an executive order to
remove discrimination protections for gay, lesbian and
transgender state employees.
Kansas legislators are on the verge of enacting new legal
protections for faith-based groups on state college campuses who
deny membership to students who don’t comply with a group’s
religious beliefs and standards of conduct and don’t commit to
furthering its religious mission. Critics worry it will allow campus
groups to discriminate against LGBT students.
A similar bill has cleared the Missouri House and a Senate
committee.
The debate has divided many in the business community.
The vast majority of Fortune 500 companies have in recent years
adopted rules against discrimination of gay workers and offer
benefits to the same-sex partners of their employees. Overland

http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article18993843.html

9/16/2015

Heated gay rights debate continues in Missouri and many other states | The Kansas City S... Page 4 of 4

Park-based Sprint Corp., for example, has offered health
insurance and other employee benefits to same-sex couples since
2005.
At the Missouri House hearing Wednesday, the St. Louis Regional
Chamber of Commerce, Express Scripts and Monsanto Co. all
testified in support of the Missouri nondiscrimination ordinance.
Two influential business groups — Associated Industries of
Missouri and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry —
led the opposition.
Jay Atkins, a lobbyist for the Missouri Chamber, noted that his
organization has an internal nondiscrimination policy in place, so
“to suggest we are here to advocate for discrimination is unfair
and untrue.”
But until Missouri legislators change state law to make it more
difficult to prove discrimination cases against employers — a bill
repeatedly vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon — Atkins said the Chamber
won’t support creating new protected classes of any kind.
Moncado, who helped lead the unsuccessful campaign to keep
Springfield’s nondiscrimination ordinance in place, said that
despite losing, she’s happy the debate took place.
“We had a lot of conversations with folks over the last few
months,” she said. “These conversations have allowed people to
get past that hurt and fear and come out of the closet and say, ‘I
want to fight for the city and community that I love.’”
To reach Jason Hancock, call 573-634-3565 or send email to
[e-mail]. On Twitter: @j_hancock

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9/16/2015

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Following the Supreme Court’s historic marriage equality
(hrc.org/scotus) decision last week, the Michigan Senate will likely
bring a discriminatory Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to
the floor.
This law would allow individuals to use religion as an excuse to
discriminate against LGBT people and other minorities. Other states,
including Indiana and Arkansas (http://www.hrc.org/blog/c/religiousfreedom-restoration-acts), faced immense backlash after signing
similar bills into law.
According to Mlive.com (http://www.mlive.com/lansingnews/index.ssf/2015/06/michigan_senate_may_act_on_rel.html),
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If passed by the Senate and House, this wouldn’t be the first time an
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A recent survey (http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/majority-ofamericans-oppose-lgbt-discrimination) found that a majority of
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Gay marriage debate continues in Florida | March 13, 2015 | Zac Anderson | HT Politics

Page 1 of 7

9 COMMENTS

Gay marriage debate continues in Florida
By Zac Anderson , Herald-Tribune / Friday, March 13, 2015

Follow

TALLAHASSEE — Gay marriage may now be legal in Florida but that has hardly quieted the debate over gay rights
in the state Legislature this year.
While gay couples now enjoy the same benefits — from tax breaks to shared health insurance — that married straight
couples have long received, employers can still legally fire someone based on their sexual orientation in Florida, and
gay individuals can be barred from housing and face other forms of legal discrimination.
That has prompted a bi-partisan group of lawmakers to renew their push to add sexual orientation and gender
identity to state civil rights law, with 10 Republicans — including Sarasota Rep. Ray Pilon — and 15 Democrats cosponsoring a House bill on the issue.
It’s not the only gay rights debate in Tallahassee this year. Legislation cleared
the House last week to remove language in state law prohibiting gay couples
from adopting children.
The measure is largely symbolic because courts struck down the state’s gay
adoption ban five years ago, but gay rights activists say it is significant to have
Ray Pilon wins the state House District 72 race in
2012 and spoke during the Sarasota GOP party at the
Hyatt in Sarasota. (Herald-Tribune archive / 2012 /
Thomas Bender)

the prohibition officially removed from state statutes.
Yet even as some push to expand protections and opportunities for gay
individuals, there is significant resistance to these proposals among many

conservatives in the Capitol.
A number of lawmakers expressed angst about the gay adoption issue, while the effort to ban discrimination against
gays in the workplace faces a steep climb. It has not been heard in any committees yet.
And gay rights supporters point to a bill — which has already passed one House committee — that would prevent
transgender people from using the bathroom of the sex they identify with as a potential setback for equal rights.
“This is a moment where the leadership of Florida can choose a path of respect or they can take a path of moving
Florida backwards,” said Nadine Smith, the CEO of Equality Florida, the state’s largest gay rights group.

http://politics.heraldtribune.com/2015/03/13/gay-marriage-debate-continues-in-florida/

9/16/2015

Gay marriage debate continues in Florida | March 13, 2015 | Zac Anderson | HT Politics

Page 2 of 7

Bipartisan push
Key Largo Republican Rep. Holly Raschein displays a large poster board on a stand outside her office listing more
than 200 businesses that have endorsed her bill aimed at outlawing employment, housing and other forms of
discrimination against gay and transgender individuals.
The list includes such big name Florida companies as Walt Disney World, Darden Restaurants, which owns the Olive
Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse chains, Florida Power & Light parent company NextEra Energy, Office Depot,
CSX railroad and Carnival cruise lines.
The outpouring of support from the business community seems to undercut one of the main criticisms of the bill:
That it will lead to frivolous lawsuits that businesses would have to spend time and money defending.
House Speaker Steve Crisafulli — who has enormous influence over whether
the measure advances — said he is concerned about the potential increase in
litigation and wants Raschein to convince him it is unlikely to happen.
“My biggest concern is creating a protective class that all of a sudden now
causes court battles,” Crisafulli said. “I’ve asked those on that side of the issue
Florida House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt
Island, speaks to the media during a pre-legislative
news conference, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015, in
Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Cannon)

to kind of bring us some information from other states to see if it has increased
lawsuits.”
Raschein said studies indicate lawsuits have actually decreased in states with

more protections for individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Businesses have clearer rules to
follow and “everybody knows what the deal is,” she said.
More importantly “it’s just the right thing to do,” she said.
That seems to be a growing sentiment in the GOP. Gay rights activists have been pushing for a statewide antidiscrimination law for years but this is the first time the legislation is being sponsored by a Republican, Smith said.
And the bill has attracted Republican co-sponsors from around the state.
“We should not judge people in the workplace by their sexual orientation,” Pilon said. “And unfortunately they’ve
been discriminated against in many, many cases.”
The bill has a long road ahead, though.

http://politics.heraldtribune.com/2015/03/13/gay-marriage-debate-continues-in-florida/

9/16/2015

Gay marriage debate continues in Florida | March 13, 2015 | Zac Anderson | HT Politics

Page 3 of 7

Raschein has been lobbying members of the first House committee where the legislation has been referenced, the
Civil Justice Subcommittee. She said if the bill came up for a vote today it would be “very close.” She wants to lock
down a winning vote count before pushing for a hearing on the measure.
Wellington Democrat Joseph Abruzzo is sponsoring the bill in the Senate. He is confident the legislation can clear its
first committee in his chamber.
“I feel that the votes are there,” Abruzzo said.
Smith believes the legislation would pass by comfortable margins if leaders in both chambers allowed it to advance.
The idea of not discriminating against people based on their sexual orientation has become so fundamental that
most people think it’s already law, she said.
“We believe the votes are there,” she said. “It’s just a matter of getting it to the floor.”
Meanwhile LGBT advocates are on the defensive elsewhere.
Bathroom brawl
One of the most controversial pieces of legislation introduced this session is a bill sponsored by Rep. Frank Artiles,
R-Miami, that would make it illegal for a state resident to use a single-sex restroom that does not match the gender
listed on an individual’s driver’s license or passport.
The measure has been slammed by LGBT activists as an effort to discriminate against transgender people who want
to use the restroom of the gender they choose to identify with.
Artiles said he is trying to protect women from being assaulted by men posing
as women, noting he is the father of two girls.
“I am not a homophobe, I am not a transphobe, I am a father,” Artiles said in
defending his bathroom legislation and explaining his vote in favor of
Cindy Sullivan, 45, St. Petersburg, right, a
transgendered person, responds to Rep. Frank
Artiles, R- Miami, far left, sponsor of HB 583 during a
House Civil Justice Subcommittee meeting,
Wednesday, March 4, 2015, at the Capitol in
Tallahassee. Transgender women would have to use
men's public bathrooms and transgender men would
have to use women's rooms unless they have a
license or passport that proves they've completed
their transition to their new sex under a bill that
passed its first committee Wednesday. (AP
Photo/Tampa Bay Times/Scott Keeler)

removing the gay adoption language from state law.
The bathroom bill passed its first House committee by a 9-4 vote. Raschein
described the legislation as “completely the opposite” of her bill and said it is
disappointing to see it advancing while her proposal struggles to gain traction.

http://politics.heraldtribune.com/2015/03/13/gay-marriage-debate-continues-in-florida/

9/16/2015

Gay marriage debate continues in Florida | March 13, 2015 | Zac Anderson | HT Politics

Page 4 of 7

The gay adoption measure also divided GOP House members. Many ultimately voted for the bill, but some
conservatives blasted the gay adoption section and said they only backed the legislation because of other provisions
that promoted adoption in general.
Republican lawmakers continue to feel pressure on the right from activist groups such as the socially conservative
Florida Family Policy Council.
John Stemberger, the organization’s president, posted a photo on Twitter of the vote count shortly after the gay
adoption measure passed this week, implying his group is closely tracking such issues and watching how lawmakers
vote. He did not return messages left by the Herald-Tribune.
“Funny whenever gays are involved the centuries old best interest of children legal standard is completely ignored,”
Stemberger wrote of the adoption issue on Twitter.
Still, LGBT activists believe they are slowly winning the fight.
“We’re getting closer but we’re not there yet,” said Ken Shelin, a former Sarasota city commissioner who serves on
the Equality Florida board.
With the Legislature slow to respond, Shelin and others have worked to enact local anti-discrimination ordinances.
There is discrimination
Englewood real estate agent Julia Nowak was thrilled when gay marriage became legal in Florida, but also a little
apprehensive.
Nowak worries that more public exposure for gay couples could lead to more instances of discrimination. A lesbian,
Nowak is particularly sensitive to the issue because of what happened at a condo complex in Venice where she owns
a unit.
The condo board amended its bylaws to prevent unmarried couples from
buying or renting units. Gay couples could not marry at the time and Nowak
believes the change was clearly intended to bar them from the property.
“It exists out there. I experienced it; there is discrimination,” she said.
Condo officials said they never meant to target gay people with the policy,
Julia Nowak stands outside the condominium unit she
owns in the Casa Di Amici Condominium Complex in
Venice. Nowak is angry with the condominium
association after they passed a rule only allowing
married couples or single individuals to rent or buy
property in the community. Nowak, who is a lesbian,

which they eventually rescinded. But the episode prompted Nowak to get more
politically involved. She has been lobbying the Sarasota County Commission to

http://politics.heraldtribune.com/2015/03/13/gay-marriage-debate-continues-in-florida/

9/16/2015

Gay marriage debate continues in Florida | March 13, 2015 | Zac Anderson | HT Politics

said the new rule discriminates against gay couples,
who can't marry in Florida, and couples who chose
not to marry. (Herald-Tribune archive / 2013 /
Shelby Webb)

Page 5 of 7

adopt an ordinance prohibiting employment, housing and other forms of
discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation or gender
identity.

Shelin helped pass similar ordinances in the cities of Sarasota and Venice. The city of North Port is holding
workshops on the issue. But Sarasota County leaders have been reluctant to take action.
Some county commissioners have said the issue should be handled by state lawmakers, not local officials. But it
could take time to pass state legislation. Abruzzo noted it took seven years to pass a seatbelt law in Florida.
Meanwhile, activists plan to keep pressuring local officials to take action.
“At the state level we haven’t been able to make significant progress so it’s going to be very important to keep
working at the local level,” Shelin said.

Last modified: March 13, 2015
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Jeff Eisnaugle Sr. · Sarasota, Florida
So sex, race, religion, national origin are not pretective classes? This guy has his head up
his wazuu! As far as litigation,, if you don't discriminate, you won't be sured! Another bull
sh*t excuse!. If you are a business open to the public, then you must serve the public
regardless of "religious belief"! Your religion does not apply to public business.
What if someone owned a business and refused service to anyone who has a bald head,
wore a crucifix, had a tattoo, or drove a chevy? Those people too are a protective class!
The bottom line is,,,,, these eleceted officials putting up road bloce concerns are not doing
their job,,, they are putting their personal and party ideaology in front of equality to maintain
an idea of hetero superiority.
Like · Reply ·

2 · Mar 15, 2015 10:04am

Nill Natasha
Am Miss Natasha Hill from Australia. I was having serious relationship problems
with my Husband and it had resulted in him moving out to his friend’s apartment.
Everything got worse because he started going to bars and strip clubs frequently
with his friend, getting drunk and passing out. He always threatens me on phone
whenever I call him because of all the bad advises that his friend has given him. I
really love him and we had been dating for 8 years which gave us a beautiful
daughter and a mavalous son. I had also lost a lot of money on therapists until I
was introduced to Dr. Osauyi by a f... See More
Like · Reply · Jul 17, 2015 10:30pm

Rollie Thomas Lawson · Venice, Florida
Science defines the entity "human being" The Constitution of the United States of America
as amended gives all human beings rights as humans. The Constitution and our
government MUST quit using traditionally religious terms to human events and statuses. To
the govt "marriage" should now be defined as a "civil union" for tax and census purposes.
Like · Reply ·

1 · Mar 15, 2015 2:20pm

Nill Natasha
Am Miss Natasha Hill from Australia. I was having serious relationship problems
with my Husband and it had resulted in him moving out to his friend’s apartment.
Everything got worse because he started going to bars and strip clubs frequently
with his friend, getting drunk and passing out. He always threatens me on phone
whenever I call him because of all the bad advises that his friend has given him. I
really love him and we had been dating for 8 years which gave us a beautiful
daughter and a mavalous son. I had also lost a lot of money on therapists until I
was introduced to Dr. Osauyi by a f... See More
Like · Reply · Jul 17, 2015 10:30pm

Nill Natasha
Am Miss Natasha Hill from Australia. I was having serious relationship problems with my
Husband and it had resulted in him moving out to his friend’s apartment. Everything got
worse because he started going to bars and strip clubs frequently with his friend, getting
drunk and passing out. He always threatens me on phone whenever I call him because of
all the bad advises that his friend has given him. I really love him and we had been dating
for 8 years which gave us a beautiful daughter and a mavalous son. I had also lost a lot of
money on therapists until I was introduced to Dr. Osauyi by a f... See More
Like · Reply · Jul 17, 2015 10:29pm

Jeffrey Matinez
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Like · Reply · Sep 5, 2015 3:56pm

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