Gay Rights Debate Draws Water Utility Input

As gender and sexuality discrimination cases dominate the national debate this year, the water industry has been forced to examine this issue.

In Arkansas, a recent state law prevents localities from protecting new classes. When Little Rock passed an ordinance in April flying in the face of this state mandate, its local wastewater treatment provider weighed in to support gender and sexuality protections.

"Little Rock Wastewater, which would be required to have its contractors agree to new contract language, said that the agency supports the [city's] ordinance," the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported.

Discrimination based on gender and sexuality are a hot topic this year. "As the Supreme Court prepares to consider same-sex marriage cases, there are few places where the struggle between traditional values and gay rights is playing out as starkly as" Arkansas cities, the New York Times reported.

That puts local water service providers at the center of the fray. As some of the largest employers of city and city-contractor personnel, their decisions on such questions are critical to the life of these policies.

In Little Rock, the city ordinance "requires businesses that contract with the city or any of its commissions to adopt a nondiscrimination policy that includes sexual orientation and gender identity protections," the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported.

"The ordinance approved by the city's board on a 7-2 vote bans discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in hiring and city services, including those offered through outside vendors," the Associated Press reported.

City Director Kathy Webb, who worked with the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, proposed the ordinance after the state clamped down on anti-discrimination policies. The state law, known as Act 137, says that cities and counties "shall not adopt or enforce an ordinance, resolution, rule, or policy that creates a protected classification or prohibits discrimination on a basis not contained in state law."

The local wastewater service provider issued a statement of support for the ordinance. Supporters say the utility's view is in bounds because "the new state law doesn't apply to a city and county's policies applying to its employees, whom Little Rock's ordinance would cover. The Little Rock proposal goes a step further with the restriction on anyone who contracts with the city," the AP reported.

Critics are not so sure the city is acting within its rights. "I'm certainly not an attorney, but I would think if you're a vendor you've got a good defense against this because of (the law)," said Republican Sen. Bart Hester of Cave Springs," per the AP.

The debate is also percolating in Eureka Springs, AK, where the city council approved a similar ordinance in February. Voters rejected similar measures in nearby Fayetteville, AK, and Springfield, MO," the New York Times reported.

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