Gender-identity language divides Pierce County Council

A dispute over adding transgender people to the list of protected groups among Pierce County employees led the County Council this week to defeat a package of changes to the personnel manual, affecting everyone from domestic violence victims to whistleblowers.

The split vote was taken Tuesday after more than a dozen citizens implored the council not to add gender identity to the county code. They said it would open the door to potential abuses by sexual predators and other criminals.

Most of those who spoke cited a recent controversial move by the YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap Counties. The YMCA adopted a policy this year, and later clarified it, allowing members access to locker rooms and restrooms according to the gender they identify with.

“I would ask the county to be wise and see the absolute trouble that this has brought to the YMCA and to parents,” said Rich Stewart, who led a long stream of citizens testifying before the council. “This kind of policy creates an environment where it’s easier to commit crimes like voyeurism and indecent exposure and prostitution.”

The mood grew tense later in the meeting when Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg spoke.

“To equate abuses in bathrooms with transgender (people) is appalling,” the Tacoma Democrat said. “There’s still a lot of ignorance around the issue.”

The council was considering whether to explicitly include gender identity in the section of county code that lays out equal-employment and nondiscrimination protections. The code already prohibits unfair treatment of county government employees based on race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation and other factors.

The request for the change came from the county’s Human Resources Department.

“We want our managers, supervisors and employees to make sure that we are in compliance with state law so that we are creating a workplace where everyone is welcome and free from discrimination,” said Human Resources Director Ginny Dale.

She said the changes would not apply to restroom use, and that Pierce County rules have nothing to do with the policies of independent nonprofits such as the YMCA.

But some citizens said the county is a social force with influence that extends beyond the nearly 3,000 full-time employees on its payroll.

“I applaud that you want to be inclusive, but at what cost?” said Shawnta Mulligan of Bonney Lake. “I’m not naive enough to think that this only applies to Pierce County employees.”

“If it’s simply to promote an agenda, then I don’t think it’s a worthwhile effort,” said Richard Samuelson of Gig Harbor.

Some of those in the audience were spurred to attend when the conservative Family Policy Institute of Washington sent an alert Tuesday morning to its members. The email said passage of the county ordinance would be “troubling, especially in light of the ongoing battles to allow people of any perceived genders into whichever restroom they happen to feel they identify with on any given day.”

Council Chairman Dan Roach, R-Bonney Lake, made a motion to strike the gender-identity language from the HR Department’s proposal. He said the language seemed redundant because state law already prohibits discrimination based on gender identity, and both county and state law forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Rick Talbert, D-Tacoma, joined the two other Democrats on the council in killing Roach’s motion, saying transgender employees deserve to know that the county is looking out for them.

“Those are people and they have a right to be equal,” Talbert said. “Removing this language to me signifies that for some reason we believe these particular people don’t deserve the same protection as the other employees in Pierce County.”

After Roach’s proposal to strike the gender-identity language was defeated on a 3-3 vote, the council returned to the larger package of employee policy updates.

It included several technical changes on benefits such as sick leave, military leave and whistleblower protections. It also had some substantive changes, such as establishing two days of unpaid leave for faith and conscience holidays as well as extending domestic violence leave for employees with family members in crisis. It also created a confidentiality provision for domestic violence victims.

The council took a final 3-3 vote, killing the whole package.

County staff expect that they will eventually bring the package of updates back for council reconsideration, though it was unclear Wednesday whether the gender-identity language will still be part of it.

This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 7:10 PM with the headline "Gender-identity language divides Pierce County Council."