Denver Rescue Mission says it will drop anti-LGBTQ language from employee handbook following outcry
Denver Rescue Mission says it will drop anti-LGBTQ language from employee handbook following outcry
Employees could have faced firing for “acting on same-sex attraction” or “rejection of one’s biological sex”
https://www.denverpost.com/2022/11/23/denver-rescue-mission-anti-lgbtq-handbook/
By Joe Rubino | jrubino@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
November 23, 2022 at 6:00 a.m.
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The plan to remove the recently installed language, confirmed by a Denver Rescue Mission spokesman Tuesday, comes amid a flood of criticism from city officials, including Mayor Michael Hancock — who called it a “discriminatory policy” — and Councilwoman Robin Kniech.
The organization this fall updated its employee handbook to include language that prohibited employees from “acting on same-sex attraction” and from the “rejection of one’s biological sex.” The language was first reported by Denverite on Friday.
Kniech, who is a lesbian, released a statement on Sunday highlighting Denver’s anti-discrimination laws that she felt the organization was violating with the language in its handbook. She also referenced Saturday’s mass shooting at Club Q, the Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub where five people were killed and 18 injured.
“We must recognize the dehumanizing impact of discrimination and its connection to violence,” Kniech said in the statement.
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According to Denverite, employees were given a deadline of Nov. 30 to sign a document acknowledging they had read and understood the handbook. Any employee found to be in violation of policies in that handbook faced potential discipline including firing.
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“As a Christian organization, we are trying to provide clarity to our employees about our core values and what we believe,” Hinkel said.
“That specific wording was a new addition and obviously we are going too far in that language and we are going to reword that and, at some point, send out a new handbook with wording that isn’t as inflammatory,” Hinkel said.
[not very reassuring, that]
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“We are not aware of anybody who is publicly in that LGBTQ space,” he said of the sexual orientation of employees now working for the organization.
Experts and advocates say that a recent expansion of anti-LGBTQ and transgender rhetoric in American political discourse is creating an environment that is ripe for violent attacks like the Club Q shooting. Earlier this month, The Denver Post reported on guidance issued by the Archdiocese of Denver advising their Catholic schools not to enroll transgender students and to treat gay parents of students differently than straight couples.
Sunday was also the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day dedicated to the memory of people killed in acts of anti-transgender violence. Councilwoman Kniech also referenced that in her statement condemning the Denver Rescue Mission’s anti-LGBTQ employment rules.
“Leaders cannot seek to erase, exclude from schools, or fire LGBTQ people from employment and then expect followers to respect our human dignity,” she said in her statement. “Today provides a grim opportunity for those who may not have understood that connection previously to choose a different path in their own policies and practices.”
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As a christian Cis male, I just do get what these close minded bigots were trying to achieve. This is the Cis population who are creating the problems, and we had better join in to help end it.
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