Opponents of Kalamazoo's gay-rights ordinance submit petitions to force vote

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KALAMAZOO -- An opposition group to the city of Kalamazoo's gay-rights ordinance submitted petitions this afternoon with more than 2,000 signatures in an effort to get the recently passed law overturned.

If enough signatures are deemed valid, city commissioners will then have to decide whether to rescind the ordinance or place it on the November ballot for voters to decide.

Charles Ybema, a spokesman for the group Kalamazoo Citizens Voting No to Special Rights Discrimination, submitted most of the 2,088 signatures, Kalamazoo City Clerk Scott Borling said.
The group had a 5 p.m. deadline today to submit at least 1,273 signatures of registered city voters.

Borling said he expects to have the signatures verified by early next week.

"As soon as I verify or validate the petitions, from that moment... the ordinance is suspended," Borling said.

The city's ordinance, which took effect July 9, outlaws employment, housing and public-accommodation discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identification.

It is the commission's second attempt in the past year at making such discrimination a city infraction, which is punishable by up to a $500 fine.

After approving a similar ordinance in December, the city commission rescinded it in January after the opposition group submitted petitions.

A committee of the commission then met in a months-long effort to craft compromise language. In the end, however, the opposition group remained unsatisified with the new language and vowed to fight it.

Contact Gabrielle Russon at grusson@kalamazoogazette.com or 388-8412.

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