Transgender protections left out of city rulebook

Transgender people will not be protected from discrimination in employment rules approved Tuesday by Sioux Falls city leaders.

City Councilors voted 6-2 to approve changes to the rulebook for public employees, including nine-pages of repeals and additions.

But there was at least one piece missing. Officials decided in June to punt a proposal from City Hall’s human resources office to extend anti-discrimination language in city charter to protect transgender workers.

“I know that our city understands that sweeping something under the rug is not going to make it go away,” said Ashley Joubert-Gaddis, director of operation for the Sioux Falls-based Center for Equality.
“I do think it’s important.”

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City Hall’s personnel regulations have been under the microscope for months. Many of the changes approved this week by council members were housekeeping measures, including small tweaks to grammar.

“Most of this is clean-up,” Councilor Pat Starr said.

The most notable aspects of the Chapter 39 revisions were not the changes, but rather what stayed the same. In addition to leaving off protections for transgender staff, city officials agreed to keep a ban blocking city employees from making political contributions.

The city attorney’s office recommended dumping the ban because it might go against the U.S. Supreme Court’s determination that campaign contributions are protected by free speech.

Former councilor Kermit Staggers spoke against the change, prompting action from the council.

“Because of concern that there might be extra pressure placed on city employees to contribute to a city campaign,” Staggers said.

Members voted 5-4 to keep the ban, with Mayor Mike Huether casting the deciding vote.

There was no vote on the city’s discrimination policy. It was left off the agenda. Assistant City Attorney Paul Bengford was unsure whether the transgender protection language would come up again for a vote.

Anti-discrimination policies guard transgender people from the higher level of mistreatment they experience on the job, said Tamara Jeanne Urban, a Sioux Falls transgender woman.

“It’s really hard for a transgender person to find employment,” Urban said. “Often when you do find employment, you’re subjected to harassment.”

Protecting workers from being discriminated against for their gender identity was proposed in April, after voters offered overwhelming support for protections for hiring gay, lesbian and bisexual workers.

The city’s civil rights department, along with the department of human resources, recommended the measure because of a 2014 executive order from President Barack Obama.

But officials delayed a vote on the change in June, after state and national debate about the rights of transgender people. City Attorney Dave Pfeifle recommended withdrawing the proposal as South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley joined other states in challenging orders from the federal government to allow transgender students into bathrooms of their choice.

City officials tout equal rights for transgender workers in an equal employment opportunity statement posted online at siouxfalls.org. But there’s nothing written in law to back up the claim.

“It’s like a mask, you know?” Joubert-Gaddis said. “It’s about the city wanting to be perceived as a more progressive and forward-moving community.”