LGBTQ advocates see mayor's race as best chance yet for a Bowling Green fairness law (2024)

WKU Public Radio | By Lisa Autry

PublishedAugust 14, 2024 at 5:00 PM EDT

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Louisville passing a groundbreaking fairness ordinance. Kentucky’s largest city was first in the state to enact a local law giving protections to members of the LGBTQ+ population in the areas of housing, employment, and public accommodations.

LGBTQ advocates in Bowling Green hoped their city would soon follow, but that’s not been the case. That could change, depending on the outcome of the city’s mayoral race this fall. The incumbent mayor’s challenger has carried the local flag for fairness since 1999.

During Bowling Green’s inaugural Pride festival in 2017, Patti Minter led a march to City Hall in support of a local fairness ordinance.

“Today, we’re here to celebrate the journey from Stonewall to City Hall," Minter shouted into a megaphone outside of Bowling Green City Hall.

Her grassroots movement to extend civil rights protections to the LGBTQ+ community actually began 25 years ago. Minter wrote her first letter to the Bowling Green Human Rights Commission in 1999, urging local elected leaders to follow in the steps of Louisville.

“So it’s past time that Bowling Green passes a fairness ordinance to ensure everyone here has equal rights and basic human dignity," Minter said in a recent interview with WKU Public Radio.

Since Louisville took the lead in 1999, 24 cities and one county have passed local ordinances. But not Kentucky’s third-largest city.

"For me, we’re trying to solve a problem we really just don’t have," Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott suggested.

LGBTQ advocates see mayor's race as best chance yet for a Bowling Green fairness law (1)

Alcott is a Republican seeking re-election to the non-partisan seat. During his four years in office, a fairness proposal hasn’t been brought up for a vote before the city commission.

“The only complaints I’ve received are people wanting us to pass a fairness ordinance, and I have a litany of emails asking for it, but within all those emails, there’s not a single person not getting housing, not getting a job they’re pursuing," Alcott told WKU Public Radio. "There’s not a single issue of a person being ridiculed because for their gender or sexuality.”

Without a fairness ordinance, there’s no official body to investigate complaints. The Bowling Green Human Rights Commission currently doesn’t keep a record of complaints, so Minter says it’s hard to put a number on allegations of discrimination.

“It really is a circular argument to say that nobody’s complaining," said Minter. "People don’t complain to people they know don’t support them.”

Someone who does hear complaints from local members of the LGBTQ+ community is Nina Wells.

“I’m 30 years old. I came out three years ago," Wells said. "I’ve lived in Bowling Green my whole life."

Wells is a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in gender dysphoria. She said while she hasn’t personally experienced discrimination, some of her clients have.

“I have heard stories where people are not hired or kept on because of gender identity or sexual orientation. Even for people not currently undergoing discrimination, there is fear for, 'What’s next, and how far can I express myself without a negative consequence for which there’s no recourse?'"

LGBTQ advocates see mayor's race as best chance yet for a Bowling Green fairness law (2)

Minter is a history professor at Western Kentucky University and former Democratic state Representative. She said the state has invested millions of dollars to prevent brain drain, yet Bowling Green still hasn’t done the one thing she thinks would keep talented workers in the state’s fastest-growing city. But Mayor Todd Alcott argues the lack of a fairness ordinance isn’t stifling population or job growth.

“We are number one, by Site Selection Magazine, for economic development in the entire nation for a population under 200,000. That was declared this year, in 2024," Alcott said. "It’s a huge celebration because it means we’re doing the right things for our economic development.”

Among other emerging industries, Bowling Green has an electric-vehicle battery plant under construction that’s expected to employ 2,500 workers. Some will undoubtedly come from out of state, and Minter wonders how many will stay.

“People are moving here who have already had basic civil rights protections regardless of who they are and who they love," Minter said. "Sometimes they get here and realize we don’t have a fairness ordinance, and they start looking for another job.”

While a member of the Kentucky House, Minter sponsored a bill to enact a statewide fairness ordinance, which would cover Bowling Green. Since her re-election defeat in 2022, other state lawmakers have picked up the torch. But Minter says given the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly, the fairness movement must stay local.

Over the past 25 years, a fairness ordinance has only been put to a vote once by the Bowling Green City Commission. The 2019 vote failed, with three votes against the proposal, and two in favor. And Wells said her clients in this election year are focused on the races for president down to mayor.

“I’d say 50% of my session time is spent on recapping, 'What’s coming, I’m scared, how can I prepare, who is my community, and who can I build trust with?' That's because of politics that are attacking queer rights," the therapist said.

The chances of a Fairness Ordinance passing would increase if Minter wins the mayor’s race and the makeup of the Bowling Green City Commission remains the same after the November election. But those are big “ifs”, given the advantages current mayor Todd Alcott has as the incumbent, and the fact that each commissioner faces challengers.