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Family Policy Council of West Virginia Brings Fight To Proposed LGBT Rules in Wheeling

Family Policy Council files FOIA with city

File Photo Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott listens during a recent meeting of City Council.

WHEELING — The conservative Family Policy Council of West Virginia is asking Wheeling leaders to release any and all documentation of the proposed protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents with a Freedom of Information Act request.

The request states that any such ordinance would elevate “changeable” sexual behavior to a special level of legal protection. The Charleston-based council’s president, Allen Whitt, said this ordinance has already likely been drafted under residents’ noses, despite Mayor Glenn Elliott assuring no such legislation is anywhere near a draft, let alone fully realized.

“That is misinformation. It is untruth,” Whitt said. “Their position is to pass a city ordinance. We’ve seen this multiple times. That’s a straight up lie.”

The council describes itself as a “leading conservative policy group championing social issues,” such as religious freedom.

The FOIA request asks for digital copies of records that describe the official interactions and relationships between Elliott, City Council members, the Wheeling Human Rights Commission, city staff members and Fairness West Virginia, which is a gay rights activist group. It also demands any communications between the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBT advocacy group and lobbyists who may have interacted with city personnel, council or Elliott.

City Solicitor Rosemary Humway-Warmuth said the city has until Friday to acknowledge the request, which it will. Providing records, however, may take a little more time. Since Elliott and all current council members, excluding 2nd Ward Councilman Ken Imer, took office July 1, Humway-Warmuth said there is not much to provide because they’ve had few opportunities to discuss the matter.

“So you’re jumping out on the ledge before we’ve even gotten off the darn elevator,” Humway-Warmuth said. “The requests are probably more ‘sexy’ than pertinent.”

The requests specifically asks for information from Jan. 1 through August. She said FOIA requests are quite common for the city, and said this particular one is broad. She said many of the individual requests are not for actual, existing public documents. She said FOIA is specifically for public documents, and it is not a deposition.

The request asks for in-bound and out-bound phone records to Elliott’s office or cellphone, as well as text messages to or from lobbyists who may be pushing an LGBT ordinance. It lists 14 other requests.

Elliott said he has not been in contact with the Human Rights Campaign or Fairness West Virginia. He said he has briefly spoken to Wheeling Human Rights Commissioner Steve Novotney about the resolution passed to council, which initiated the current consideration for possible protective legislation.

Fairness West Virginia did provide a presentation to the Human Rights Commission in the spring.

Elliott said the Human Rights Commission discussed this matter for roughly two years before he took office, and it now feels it’s an appropriate time to usher the conversation forward. Elliott campaigned with the expressed interest in LGBT protections.

“This is what they do,” Elliott said. “I expect them to make this the center of their focus for the next few months. I expect them to make Wheeling their new place of attention.”

Whitt’s core argument is that a possible LGBT ordinance, crafted to provide protections against employment and housing discrimination, will open the doors for individuals to plague business owners with lawsuits. He said any initial ordinance will create a slippery slope for related legislation, such as restroom rights for LGBT residents.

Whitt said Wheeling does not show a documented need for any possible ordinance.

“There is no such thing as gay or straight — just human behavior,” he said. “There can be no discrimination because there is no us or them. There is no LGBT community. There is no legal definition in the country.”

Elliott understands he has a controversial matter on his plate, and while it could be viewed as stressful — especially so soon into one’s term as mayor — he views the matter as an opportunity. He said the public dissent voiced at Tuesday’s council meeting did not discourage him — rather, he said it’s how a public forum should work.

“I didn’t run for mayor to go after low-hanging fruit,” Elliott said. “The prior council had ample opportunity to approach this, and they didn’t. I don’t want to be like that.”

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