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Nearly two years ago, Springfield voters repealed a six-month-old law that expanded nondiscrimination protection to people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
The debate over the protections, known as the "SOGI ordinance," was deeply divisive.
Springfield resident Bethany Johnson was watching the municipal election from Chicago at the time and said it was "just heartbreaking" to see LGBT protections defeated, especially by a small margin — less than 3 percent.
Johnson moved back to Springfield last fall, and now she is now leading a push to bring the question back to voters — should the city make it illegal to discriminate against individuals on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, employment and public accommodations?
The goal is to place a new LGBT protection issue on the ballot in November 2018, Johnson said.
Johnson is in the early stages of organizing. Last week, she registered a political action committee, "Queen City LGBT Initiative," with the Missouri Ethics Commission and launched a new website Wednesday, which includes links to a volunteer sign-up form and a donation page.
About 75 people have volunteered to help, Johnson told the News-Leader Thursday afternoon.
Johnson said she is currently working with an attorney to draft the petition initiative language and hopes to begin gathering signatures in May.
The language will be similar to the city's previous nondiscrimination ordinance, Johnson said.
Some local LGBT organizations that played an integral role in fighting the repeal of SOGI are keeping their distance from Johnson's new effort.
Steph Perkins, the executive director of LGBT advocacy group PROMO, was a vocal advocate for SOGI in the past.
Perkins was based in Springfield for many years and moved to St. Louis after he was promoted to head the statewide group last year.
Perkins said PROMO is currently focused on working to pass a statewide nondiscrimination act and helping local businesses, health care providers and social service agencies make their policies more inclusive.
"We recognize there is still a great deal of hurt in our community following the repeal of nondiscrimination protections," Perkins said.
Perkins indicated that though PROMO's focus is now at the state level, he doesn't discourage local political action.
"We strongly believe it's important for every individual to be empowered and involved in the political process in the way that best suits them," Perkins said.
Krista Moncado is the executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Center of the Ozarks, also known as the GLO Center.
Moncado echoed Perkins, saying the wound caused by the repeal has "taken a lot of time to heal" and the GLO Center will not be helping to put SOGI up for a vote in Springfield.
Moncado said that the GLO Center, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is not allowed to work with political action committees.
Moncado said her organization will continue to promote a statewide nondiscrimination act and work with businesses and other organizations "to expand protection and awareness across the state and here in the Ozarks."
Moncado said, "No matter what happened in Springfield in 2015, or now, or in the future — that's just Springfield. LGBT people work hard and have family all over Missouri. We need to work hard to make sure all Missourians are protected in employment, public housing and public accommodations."
Johnson, who is launching the push to put a city nondiscrimination ordinance to a vote next year, is a transgender woman.
She said she moved to Chicago in 2003 after experiencing gender identity discrimination in Springfield.
At first, Johnson said, she lived in fear that she could lose her apartment in Chicago if her landlord found out she was transgender.
When Johnson realized she was protected by law in Chicago from discrimination, she couldn't believe it.
"I feel like I could fully participate in society. I felt like I didn't have to hide myself away all the time," Johnson said. "It just made my life so much more livable."
Johnson said she feels guilty for not coming back to Springfield to help campaign against the nondiscrimination ordinance repeal before the election in April 2015.
"I should have been down here. I should have been helping. But I’m here now and I’m off the bench and I’m ready to help," Johnson said.
Johnson spoke at the Springfield Women's March that had more than 2,000 participants in January. More recently, Johnson organized a rally to support transgender rights that saw more than 120 people.
Johnson believes the attendance and enthusiasm at those events, as well as her growing volunteer list, are signs that Springfield voters are ready to tackle controversial LGBT protections again.
"I think over the last couple of years even, the LGBT community has made great strides in this country to wider acceptance and understanding and I think we will continue to do that," Johnson said. "So just because we lost in the past doesn't mean that we'll lose in the future."
The debate over whether to make it illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity was a deeply divisive issue for Springfield, beginning in 2012.
After extensive public debate, the nondiscrimination ordinance was passed by City Council in a 6-3 vote in October 2014, making Springfield the 15th municipality in the state to add the protections, according to LGBT advocacy group PROMO.
The SOGI ordinance was named after the city's Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Task Force, which discussed and made recommendations to council on the issue.
Immediately, opponents began collecting signatures to repeal the SOGI ordinance.
Opponents, who voiced concern about religious freedom and the potential impact of the ordinance on the use of bathrooms across the city, gathered enough signatures to force council to either repeal the expansion or send it to a vote.
City Council tabled the measure, which automatically sent it to the ballot.
In April 2015, Springfield voters repealed the SOGI ordinance by 854 votes. The protections were in place for six months.
Johnson said she is spearheading the new effort to bring back LGBT protections because "if something is right you fight for it, and you don't stop fighting just because you lost once."
Johnson said she anticipates resistance from some local churches.
"This is going to be a hard fight. There's a lot of work to be done to build bridges with people in the local community," Johnson said. "It's going to be a lot of work, but I believe that Springfield is ready because I believe in the hearts of the people here."
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