The HRC, the country’s largest LGBT advocacy organization, gathered data on more than 100 U.S. metro areas on their laws and policies regarding gays and lesbians, and presented each city with a score from 0 to 100. Only two cities in Louisiana were evaluated, and Baton Rouge scored 2 out of 100 — one of the worst scores in the nation. (In contrast, New Orleans received a 79, while Jackson, Miss., got an 8 — six points higher than Baton Rouge. Lafayette wasn’t evaluated.)
“I think our score should have been about a 12 — but a 12 is still not good,” Bruce Parker, the managing director of Equality for Louisiana, said Monday morning. “The mayor [Baton Rouge mayor Kip Holden] has an executive order protecting [city] employees based on sexual orientation.” Parker also said Holden has a good working relationship with the Red Stick gay community, and that while a state representative, Holden voted against the constitutional amendment that banned both same-sex marriage and civil unions in Louisiana.
Matthew Patterson, chair of the education and advocacy committee for Baton Rouge’s Capital City Alliance, said the HRC did not contact his group for data. Patterson also questions the group’s findings, pointing out the mayor’s non-discrimination order (which didn’t seem to affect the survey numbers) but said, “We certainly don’t have substantive legal protection in place.”
As for how numbers like those of the HRC affect the business world, Patterson said, “The sheer number of Fortune 500 companies who have passed protection is amazing. I think the data is clear across the country — cities that are more open, it affects the economy in really positive ways. These things aren’t just about protecting one or two people.”
According to a note in the report, “All cities rated were provided their scorecard in advance of publication and given the opportunity to submit revisions,” but to whom the results were provided isn’t spelled out. The authors of the Municipal Equality Index hadn’t returned an email request for comment on their methodology by press time. Go here to read and download a copy of the report.
MAY 22 This post was written the day after the second line shooting in NOLA, by Brentin Mock. Mock is a friend of Deb "Big Red" Cotton, a blogger who was shot in the back and was seriously injured. It is a raw, emotional piece of writing, something the writer obviously felt he needed to get off his chest. But it raises questions that can't be easily dismissed, and might give some insight into where the source of these events truly is.
MAY 22 In this Baton Rouge Business Report post, Rolfe McCollister considers the privatization of bus service in Baton Rouge. After decades of under-funding, it is a mess, and although a tax (partially) passed last year, improvement hasn't happened yet. McCollister apparently feels it is time to let private business get in on the transit business.
MAY 22 This post on Bayou Buzz by Jeff Crouere urges the defeat of a bill that would grant modest pay increases over the next several years to the state's judges and clerks of court. The state is in no position to fund pay hikes, Crouere argues, with the pay increases costing a total of $9 million over several years. It sends the wrong message to the (proverbial) hard-working people of Louisiana, he says.
MAY 22 The Advocate reports here that State Treasurer John Kennedy is complaining about a meeting of the corporation that oversees the state's tobacco settlement. The Governor wanted it restructured, and he has some support, but not a lot. The corporation agreed with his plan, but Kennedy didn't, and it appears that the meeting was noticed in a manner completely different than that of all previous meetings. Kennedy's given to hyperbole, but in this case the fish don't smell too fresh.
MAY 22 In this Advocate story, Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout says the recent federal indictment of a strip club owner is all wrong. The indictment alleges that drugs and prostitution went on with impunity because club staff made arrangements with "local" police. Stout says it never happened, and while his cops do work security in the parking lot, they're not allowed inside.
MAY 22 This amusing post in DIG Baton Rouge recounts an ad that ran on Craig's List recently; the advertiser was seeking tenants for a Beauregard Town house. He knew his market, and wrote an ad that the most ironical hipster couldn't resist. Apparently, he really did know his market, because the ad worked like a charm.
MAY 22 In this post in The Lens, Mark Moseley comments on the rhetoric Gov. Jindal employed in trying to save his tax "reform" package. One interesting point concerns Jindal's use of his brother, Nikesh, in a little story. Nikesh left Louisiana because of his inability to get a decent job, the story goes, but the story won't hold water: Nikesh lives in DC, which has an income tax level comparable to Louisiana, Moseley says. If income taxes caused the dismal situation, it should exist in DC too. Right?
MAY 22 This post by columnist John Maginnis traces the trajectory of the bill that would fund construction at community and technical colleges -- and bypass the Board of Regents and traditional higher ed funding mechanisms. Sure, it will bust the legislature's self-imposed debt limit, but some leges feel that there's more need (because there is more growth) in the community and technical college area than in the university area, he says.
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