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Mayor Ralph Becker released a report on discrimination Tuesday in Utah's capital city, on the steps of the City-County Building. Becker, center, describes the results of the study to members of the Salt Lake City Human Rights Commission.
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For Debra Daniels, that bit about sticks and stones breaking bones but names never hurting ranks as the "biggest lie ever told."

As a black child born and reared in Ogden, she felt the stabs of racial slurs that started in kindergarten. She remembers the pain of being ordered to "get out" of a neighbor's yard when she was there to play with friends.

"We have a lot of work yet to do," Daniels, director of the University of Utah's Women's Resource Center, said Tuesday as Salt Lake City released a new report on discrimination. "A lot of people whose humanity we have yet to uplift in a day-to-day way in our community and our society."

The city's Human Rights Commission released its first-ever report, documenting the many ways that prejudice persists in Utah's capital and outlining ways to stamp it out.

"I not only accept this report, I endorse it and embrace it," Mayor Ralph Becker said. "I am committed to eradicating discrimination in our city. I'm committed to promoting equity and achieving the ideals of our Constitution -- that no state shall deny any person equal protection [by] the laws."

The report builds on a "Dialogue on Discrimination" series that the 4-year-old commission staged last winter. Hundreds of people attended, many sharing their own experiences with bias and suggesting ways to create a more equitable society.

There was a man evicted from his home for being gay, the report recounts. A landlord

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refused to replace a family's broken oven and stove "because he said that [we] couldn't speak English." A hearing-impaired person could not get accommodations for his disability at a movie theater.

What's more, the report comes as public outcry continues to smolder over the eviction of two gay men from the LDS Church-owned Main Street Plaza after the couple shared a kiss. Protesters have staged two "kiss-ins" near the Salt Lake LDS Temple and another is planned today near the faith's San Diego Temple.

Discrimination can lead to violence against individuals, the report warns, and harm the city as a whole, whether it be graffiti on public buildings or declining diversity and waning economic growth.

The commission recommends four fixes to Becker and the City Council:

» Pass a nondiscrimination ordinance.

» Create a system to collect and respond to residents' discrimination claims.

» Cooperate with international human-rights projects.

» Boost funds for the Office of Diversity and Human Rights and the Human Rights Commission.

Becker said he expects to bring a nondiscrimination ordinance to the council in September -- about a year later than he promised during his campaign.

Still being crafted, the statute would prohibit housing and employment discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, source of income, age, gender and sexual orientation. The Mayor's Office plans to release a summary of the proposed ordinance today so it can begin collecting public comments.

This ordinance would apply to employers and landlords throughout the capital, City Attorney Ed Rutan said, but small businesses and minor property owners could be exempted. The city would investigate claims of discrimination and penalize perpetrators with fines.

Utah law bars many forms of discrimination in housing and employment, but not based on sexual orientation. (The report refers to the state's regulations as "bare-minimum standards of equality.") Rep. Christine Johnson, D-Salt Lake City, pushed a bill earlier this year that would have added protections for gay and transgender people, but it wilted in a Utah House committee.

Salt Lake City's growing diversity -- nearly a third are ethnic minorities, according to census estimates -- makes a nondiscrimination ordinance "that much more important," said Jon Jepsen, one of nine members on the Human Rights Commission.

"It's remarkable," Jepsen said, "that Salt Lake City is willing to step up and be an example."

rwinters@sltrib.com

By the numbers

7.6 » Percentage of Salt Lake City residents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

3.2 » Percentage of Utah's population that does.

539 » Number of employment-discrimination claims in Utah last year.

105 » Number of housing-discrimination claims in Utah last year.

3 » Number of calls the state received each month about employment discrimination based on sexual orientation when it voluntarily tracked such data.

58 » Percentage of unemployed in Salt Lake City's disabled population.

31 » Percentage of residents who speak a language other than English at home.

Source: Human Rights Commission

More on the Web

To read the report, go to www.slcgov.com