Alachua Voter Guide

Last night, by a 7-0 vote, the Gainesville City Commission approved alternative ballot language that will be seen by the voters on March 24 of next year.The change was not a big one, but Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan wanted to make sure the voters knew that they were voting to prevent the city from providing certain civil rights on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The Mayor was quite unhappy with this item being put on the ballot, and continued to avoid discussions about the main sticking points in what has become known as the Transgender Bathroom Ordinance.

The ordinance, which was passed last January in a firestorm of opposition from religious leaders, business owners, concerned parents and African-Americans in conspicuous numbers, allows anyone to self-identify as “transgendered” on the basis of how he or she feels at any moment. The ordinance has been castigated as a loophole for bathroom peredators, who could even sue a business owner for attempting to keep unsavory men from lurking in the ladies room. At least, that was the assessment of the city’s own attorney when pressed for an answer by former City Commissioner Rick Bryant. In spite of this apparent legal nightmare for the businesses in the city limits that would be forced to comply with the ordinance, City Commissioners Jack Donovan, Jeanna Mastrodicasa, and Craig Lowe joined the Mayor in her insistence that this ordinance was a needed remedy for transgendered persons.

The Mayor says she believes that the City of Gainesville will step up and deny this charter amendment, which would effectively undue the offending Gender Identity provisions.