 Local attorney Scott Knox, has told your GLBT Center that he has received a call from Chip Harrod. Chip previously was with Bridges for a Just Community/NCCJ. For background, Chip is the straight ally who involved NCCJ with repealing Article 12. With this support, P&G and other large companies became involved with the Article 12 repeal effort. Chip is now a member of the Ohio Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. The Committee is holding hearings on April 4 to hear testimony about barriers to entrepreneurship based on color, race, national origin, religion, age, sex, or disability. He is reaching out because he has heard that the Commission is considering expanding the categories to include sexual orientation. He’s looking for someone to come to Wilmington College (about an hour from Cincinnati) to describe what barriers (s)he had to starting a business based on the person’s sexual orientation. It could be lack of networks, resources, and personal relationships to get businesses off the ground, difficulty getting loans, or a person feeling (s)he needs to be closeted to get a business started successfully. Chip wants to know if there’s a gay-oriented business that had problems getting a loan, for instance, and if they felt it was due to their sexual orientation. It could include those who have started a business, but been harassed by people due to their sexual orientation. If anyone has felt barriers to starting/operating their business based on their sexual orientation, they can either contact Chip Harrod directly at (937) 382-6661 ext 330 or call Scott Knox at 513-241-3800. This is a great opportunity to provide the information to change U.S. Civil Rights Commission regulations, so if there are barriers out there based on sexual orientation, our community should act now. Below is attached a background document on this topic.  |
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