Homophobe Appointed to County's Human Relations Board? Back
Originally appearing on Creative Loafing
Equality Florida blasts BOCC for naming Terry Kemple to Hillsborough County’s Human Relations Board
February 17, 2011 at 1:44 pm by Mitch Perry
Last summer Hillsborough County Christian conservative Terry Kemple made certain to keep his socially conservative views on creationism, gays and bikini bars in the closest as he aspired to mainstream acceptance in his bid for election to Hillsborough County’s School Board.
However, he was unsuccessful, losing out in the primary last August.
He’s back in the news today however, after the LGBT advocacy group Equality Florida issued a press release slamming the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners for naming Kemple to its Human Relations Board back in December. The release was written by the group’s Executive Director, Nadine Smith:
“The primary purpose of the the Human Relations Board is to ‘encourage equality among all people.’ By appointing Terry Kemple, the Hillsborough County Commission has selected someone who stands in direct opposition to everything this board is supposed to represent. Kemple has consistently opposed equal protection under the law for gay people and has advocated against the freedoms of those who don’t share his particular religious views. For years, he worked to block anti-bullying and non-discrimination protections in local schools. He tried to block students from forming Gay Straight Alliances on campus to reduce harassment and bullying of LGBT students. More recently, Kemple led a failed 2009 boycott against Pepsico because of the company’s provides equal benefits for gay employees. In his unsuccessful run for the Hillsborough County School Board, Kemple required donors to check a box declaring they do not support equal rights for gay people. Terry Kemple’s presence on the Hillsborough County Human Relations Board creates an insurmountable obstacle to the fulfillment of it’s stated purpose - encouraging equality among all people – and we strongly urge the commissioners to revoke this appointment.”
The Hillsborough County Human Relations Board is charged with encouraging equality among all people by reviewing complaints filed under Hillsborough County’s Human Rights Ordinance which promotes fair treatment and equal opportunity for people regardless of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age, disability, or marital status.
What it doesn’t include, you might notice, is sexual orientation, which seems a bit odd in the year 2011. The BOCC removed that group from its ordinance in 1995. You might recall a little over a year ago Commissioner Kevin Beckner had the temerity to discuss that omission, and was silenced by his fellow commissioners, none louder than Jim Norman, who accused Beckner of trying to introduce such a measure “through the back door.”
Commissioner Kevin Beckner tells CL that the vote approving Kemple to the Human Relations Board was 5-2, with the only other Democrat on the panel, Les Miller, opposing him. Commissioners Al Higginbotham, Ken Hagan, Mark Sharpe, Sandy Murman and Victor Crist supported his selection.
