To: Jim Barnes, Mayor, Richmond Kentucky
Lesbian couple kicked out of Richmond, KY park
Jessica Miller-Poole, owner of 13 Wishes Photography in Richmond, said she was posing Cheri Chenault and her partner, Destiny Keith, for a maternity session Saturday in E.C. Million Park when a gatekeeper told them they had to leave because "those type of people are not welcome here."
"They had such a small kiss, such a peck of a kiss, that I wasn't even able to capture a picture of it," Miller-Poole said.
Immediately after the kiss, she said, the park attendant told her to leave and said that she was banned indefinitely, depending on "your behavior and if you come back and if you bring those things with you."
"At that point I had to walk away, because those 'things' were my clients and those 'type of people' were no different from you and me," Miller-Poole said.
Richmond Human Rights Commission chairwoman Sandra Anez-Powell said there was no law against telling the couple to leave the park because the city doesn't have a fairness ordinance. Of the 23 human rights commissions in Kentucky, only those in Lexington, Louisville and Covington have "extended jurisdiction" to enforce discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgender people.
Please sign this petition to stand up against discrimination in our small (often unnoticed) towns!
"They had such a small kiss, such a peck of a kiss, that I wasn't even able to capture a picture of it," Miller-Poole said.
Immediately after the kiss, she said, the park attendant told her to leave and said that she was banned indefinitely, depending on "your behavior and if you come back and if you bring those things with you."
"At that point I had to walk away, because those 'things' were my clients and those 'type of people' were no different from you and me," Miller-Poole said.
Richmond Human Rights Commission chairwoman Sandra Anez-Powell said there was no law against telling the couple to leave the park because the city doesn't have a fairness ordinance. Of the 23 human rights commissions in Kentucky, only those in Lexington, Louisville and Covington have "extended jurisdiction" to enforce discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgender people.
Please sign this petition to stand up against discrimination in our small (often unnoticed) towns!
Why is this important?
As a 26 yr old male who recently "came out", I still have lot's of memories from college. Richmond, Kentucky was a where I spent my first two yrs of college. It's an amazing college town with the capability to positively impact the minds of thousands of young people who are very impressionable.
Now living in San Francisco (and out) I have a much clearer picture of how humans should be treated no matter their race, gender, sexuality, etc.. I read this story from a Facebook post and felt sick to my stomach that these sort of incidents still happen in parts of the US.
A lesbian couple taking photos in a public park in Richmond, Kentucky were kicked out by park officials for a mere kiss on the cheek during a photo shoot!! The city of Richmond has so far taken NO ACTION and avoided the issue all together.
Read the full story here:
http://www.kentucky.com/2012/07/11/2255727/call-for-gay-rights-fairness-law.html
Now living in San Francisco (and out) I have a much clearer picture of how humans should be treated no matter their race, gender, sexuality, etc.. I read this story from a Facebook post and felt sick to my stomach that these sort of incidents still happen in parts of the US.
A lesbian couple taking photos in a public park in Richmond, Kentucky were kicked out by park officials for a mere kiss on the cheek during a photo shoot!! The city of Richmond has so far taken NO ACTION and avoided the issue all together.
Read the full story here:
http://www.kentucky.com/2012/07/11/2255727/call-for-gay-rights-fairness-law.html