San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed is being urged by his city's Human Rights Commission to oppose Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment on the fall ballot that would outlaw same-sex marriage.
Reed personally opposes gay marriage but, so far, has remained silent on the controversial ballot measure. Earlier this month when asked by the Bay Area Reporter about the issue, Reed said he would refrain from commenting on Prop 8 until after legal challenges to the measure had been decided.
Since the B.A.R.'s story, the mainstream press has hounded Reed about it and LGBT leaders have threatened to go after him "guns blazing" if he comes out in support of Prop 8.
This week, the state Supreme Court threw out a lawsuit filed by gay rights groups that sought to keep Prop 8 off the ballot. But Reed has yet to break his silence; his spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment Friday, July 18.
Now the city's human rights panel has weighed in on the matter; it voted 5-2 at its meeting July 17 to support same-sex marriage and urged Reed and the City Council to "oppose any legislation which would place discriminatory language into our state Constitution."
Due to city rules, the HRC is forbidden from referring specifically to Prop 8 but can take a policy stance. The resolution now must be passed out of the City Council's rules committee, on which Reed sits, before it goes before the full council.
HRC Chair Bob Sipple, who voted for the resolution, said he could not comment on whether Reed or the council members would follow the HRC's request.
"I believe every single individual has the right to believe in what they want to believe in. It is not my position to tell him to change his ways anymore than it is for him to say to me to think a certain way," said Sipple. "Not everybody is going to accept it and it is kind of sad."
David Parker, the only LGBT person on the HRC, said he is confident the resolution will be heard by the City Council sometime in August. He said the four-person rules committee is likely to split on the matter, with Reed and Councilman Pete Constant opposed and Vice Mayor Dave Cortese and Councilwoman Judy Chirco in support. A tie would still send it to the full council for a vote, he said.
"I have faith the City Council will do the right thing," said Parker.
With help from Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center Executive Director Aejaie Sellers, Parker was able to redraft his original resolution that was tabled at the HRC's June meeting to make it "more palatable" for his fellow commissioners to vote for it, as well as reword it to meet city rules.
"I feel good. I am proud that my colleagues that voted last night did the right thing," said Parker. "Ideally, I would have liked to see us reference Prop 8, but pursuant to City Council policies, boards and commissions can not take positions for or against legislation that may be going to the voters or voted on in the near future. I am glad I was able to wordsmith it with Aejaie's help to make it a more palatable resolution."
Even Vice Chair Robert Bailey, who was criticized for his referring to the LGBT community as a "vocal minority" at the June meeting, voted for the resolution. The other two commissioners voting in favor were Ed Walker and Rajwant Bains. Those voting no were Qi Deng and Karen Davis.
Five commissioners were absent from the meeting: Cal Gil, Tahir Anwar, Raj Bhanot, Vanessa Burbach, and John Marienthal.