The Charleston Gazette-Mail ran an article titled "Lawmakers voice support for nondiscrimination," about a video put out by Fairness West Virginia, the statewide gay rights organization, showing both Democratic and Republican legislators denouncing discrimination against LGBT people in the state. Tim Miley, the minority leader in the West Virginia House, a Democrat from Harrison County, thirty miles south of Morgantown wondered "...whether LGBT individuals feel welcome in West Virginia."
I sent the paper a rant Wednesday, too long for a letter. I haven't heard anything back from them, so I'm posting my rant here. I edited it slightly from what was sent.
I saw the
video from Fairness West Virginia, showing bipartisan support for equal
rights for everyone regardless of sexual orientation.Andrew Schneider of Fairness is a friend, and I'm glad he was able to
get senators and delegates from both parties to endorse
non-discrimination.
I'm not sure it means anything. Republicans Charles Trump and Tom Takubo, who both appear extolling fairness in the video are also cosponsors of "The Religious Freedom Restoration Act," which is widely perceived to be an excuse for people to discriminate against LGBT people, or anyone, in public accommodations. Saira Blair, Republican from the Eastern Panhandle says in your article "..The video is by no means where I stand on any Legislation." I know she is her own woman (one hopes), but her father, Senator Craig Blair, is a Senate cosponsor of SB 11, The "Freedom of Conscience Protection Act" in the West Virginia Senate. Ms. Blair also said in 2014 ( I found this in "Teen Vogue") "I believe that marriage is a religious institution between a man and a woman."
Tim Miley wonders if ..."LGBT individuals feel welcome in West Virginia." I would say "It's lonesome." I came here in July of 2012 when my spouse was offered the Rabbi position at Tree of Life Congregation, here in Morgantown. Our experience with the congregation has been great. At the end of Rabbi Joe's two-year contract, he was offered another five-year contract by the congregation. We have been accepted as a couple in what I call the "South Park bubble," the neighborhood of big old houses inhabited by college professors from WVU, current and retired, lawyers, scientists, and people who are politically active. I once joked that it was the only place in West Virginia where you could have an Obama sticker on your car.
We try to ignore the slights. I questioned a new dentist about why she had a religious magazine in her waiting room that said that gays want to overturn the U.S. Constitution. I stopped going to a garage where there were religious and political pages on a wall, including one that said " We will not allow anyone to change the definition of marriage." A few times we have been treated badly by servers at restaurants, and crossed them off our list. The managers have often taken our side. I used to go to a WVU-operated gym where some of the staff wouldn't say "Hello" to me when I walked in. I don't go there anymore. We donated to the local AIDS service organization. I signed the check, which was from our joint account and had our home address was on it. A thank you note came to Joe at the synagogue. I confronted the second-in-command at the organization, and he showed me how no one was listed as a couple at their annual fundraiser. And when we first moved here, I answered an article in the Dominion-Post about the high rate of suicide among young men in West Virginia. My letter suggested that many of these people might be gay, and harassed by family and schoolmates. I met with Mr. Musick, the head of this task force. He told me he could not mention anything gay in relation to suicide. We were also told that we should not go south of Clarksburg, except possibly to Charleston and Huntington, because our lives would be in danger. I found that to be an exaggeration. I travel frequently, but usually on my own. I don't have to look gay or Jewish. I've lived in Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Los Angeles, four of the most dangerous big cities in the United States.I don't scare easily.
There aren't a lot of gay people here. Gay men our age (currently 66 and 59) moved away when they were twenty. Joe had a friend in New York in the late 70s whose father in West Virginia suggested he fly out a second-floor window if he was a fairy. He took a bus to New York that day, changed his name, and has not had contact with his parents since. We joined a group called G2H2, Gay Guys Happy Hour. We go out to a restaurant once a month for drinks and dinner. The restaurants have all been great to us. I suppose someone could tell us they don't want to sell drinks and fifteen dinners on a slow weeknight because we are gay, but that hasn't happened. The men we have met at G2H2 live in their parents' or grandparents' old house in the country. The three older couples we have become close to live in Pennsylvania. A few, like us, live in Morgantown.
I serve on the LGBT Equity Commission at WVU as the community member. There will be an LGBT Center next year, and under President Gee, the University has made great strides in combating prejudice against LGBT people, and against religious and ethnic minorities. Our problem here is in the West Virginia Legislature, where Cindy Frich,one of our Republican legislators, asked for a resolution to the US government to have a constitutional convention specifically to ban any recognition of same-gender relationships. Joe Statler, another of our representatives, voted for it as well. I believe Delegate Frich is again asking for a constitutional convention.
My husband is happy with his work here at Tree of Life. When he signed his new five-year contract, I decided to be happy too. With some of the last money I inherited from my parents, we were able to make a down payment on a modest house in Suncrest. We applied to three mortgage lenders; only one called us back. And in an attempt to change the political culture of West Virginia, I filed to run as a delegate to the State Assembly. Morgantown has a sign on US 119 as you enter town saying "Building A Diverse Community." I would like to help make that diverse community a reality.
Barry Lee Wendell
P.O. Box 831
Morgantown, WV 26507
304-685-1098
blogging at: themorgantowner.blogspot.com
campaign website: barryinthehouse.com
wendell.barry@aol.com
Since
I originally wrote this, the Charleston Area Chamber of Commerce has
come out against these bills as "bad for business." They cite what
happened in Indiana after bills with almost identical language were
passed there. All well and good, but I would like someone to say "It's
immoral to have a business open to the public, and say 'Not You' to a
specific group of people." I grew up in Maryland when it was strictly
segregated by race, and to a lesser extent, by religion. I would not
want to see West Virginia go in that direction.
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