[ Search ] [ PDF text ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
| [ Introduced ] | [ Engrossed ] | [ Enrolled ] |
| [ House Amendment 001 ] |
92_HB1039gms
STATE OF ILLINOIS
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
SPRINGFIELD, 62706
GEORGE H. RYAN
GOVERNOR
August 10, 2001
To the Honorable Members of the
Illinois House of Representatives
92nd General Assembly
Pursuant to the authority vested in the Governor by
Article IV, Section 9(e) of the Illinois Constitution of
1970, and re-affirmed by the People of the State of Illinois
by popular referendum in 1974, and conforming to the standard
articulated by the Illinois Supreme Court in People ex Rel.
Klinger v. Howlett, 50 Ill. 2d 242 (1972), Continental
Illinois National Bank and Trust Co. v. Zagel, 78 Ill. 2d 387
(1979), People ex Rel. City of Canton v. Crouch, 79 Ill. 2d
356 (1980), and County of Kane v. Carlson, 116 Ill. 2d 186
(1987), that gubernatorial action be consistent with the
fundamental purposes and the intent of the bill, I hereby
return House Bill 1039 entitled "AN ACT concerning public
accommodations" with my specific recommendations for change.
House Bill 1039 would create the Motorcyclist Public
Accommodation Act prohibiting any person from restricting and
individual's access or admission to, or use of, a place of
public accommodation solely because the individual operates a
motorcycle. The bill provides that a violation of the act is
a criminal (petty) offense and also provides for civil
penalties. House Bill 1039 further provides that the Act does
not prohibit a person from restricting an individual's access
or admission to, or use of, a place of public accommodation
because the individual's conduct poses a risk to the health,
safety, or property of another.
This legislation is designed to prohibit a form of
discrimination that is not currently covered by law and I
fully support the fundamental purpose and intent of this
legislation. I understand that the intent of the General
Assembly was not to add protections for motorcyclists to the
Illinois Human Rights Act, but rather to insure that Illinois
law covers a form of discrimination that exists in our state
that is not specifically prohibited under current law. House
Bill 1039 protects an individual's right to travel freely and
use places of public accommodation without fearing or
suffering arbitrary discrimination by providing a separate
statutory scheme to prohibit such discrimination. I believe,
however, that this bill requires further change to
specifically include and protect a group of individuals whom
we all recognize to be the subject of similar and oftentimes
more sever forms of discrimination.
As I have said before, I favor equal and fair treatment
for everyone, regardless of who they are as a person --
whether they be a motorcyclist, an ethnic minority, a gay or
lesbian or even a gay or lesbian motorcyclist. I have never
been in favor of special treatment for anybody, but I have
always been in favor of fairness for everybody.
The General Assembly is to be commended for recognizing
its responsibility and obligation to protect our citizens
from inequity, unfairness and arbitrary discrimination by
passing this legislation. This bill is significant because it
demonstrates that the 92nd General Assembly has found common
ground and reached an overwhelming consensus on a mechanism
for protecting certain classes of individuals from
discrimination by law, without creating special rights or
special privileges. It passed the House and Senate by
overwhelming majorities. Some may recall that my previous
proposal (House Bill 101) to extend human rights protections
to our gay and lesbian citizens, family members, friends,
colleagues and acquaintances by amending the Human Rights
Act, was rejected by the Senate based primarily on the
erroneous rhetoric and mistaken perception that it would
provide "special rights or privileges" to this class of
citizens, even though they have suffered historical and
unconscionable discrimination. I still believe the General
Assembly should pass House Bill 101 in its entirety, but I
cannot constitutionally affect the additional protections and
guarantees in that bill through an amendatory veto of this
one.
The legislative history of House Bill 1039 shows that the
General Assembly clearly intended to establish a separate,
stand-alone mechanism that provides criminal and civil
protections against discrimination for classes of individuals
outside what has previously been recognized under our Human
Rights Act. In providing these protections, however, the
General Assembly has omitted a sizable and valuable community
of people who are not only refused equal access to areas of
public accommodation but are often times harassed, beaten and
sometimes even killed "solely" on the basis of their sexual
orientation. I'm proud to say that in Illinois we have some
of the nation's best hate crimes laws on the books. However,
when it comes to providing equal access to places of public
accommodation to all our citizens and ensuring each
individual's right to live, work and enjoy life without fear
of discrimination, I am ashamed to say that Illinois falls
far short of providing for this basic level of civility that
so many of us can, and often do, take for granted.
This bill passed the House and Senate with little
testimony. A representative of the motorcyclists' interests,
testified in support of this bill and presented limited
information concerning instances where motorcyclists were
purportedly denied access to public accommodations. Without
intending to minimize the impact of such discrimination, in
good conscience we cannot at the same time simply ignore the
documented evidence of discrimination and hate crimes
committed against individuals because of their perceived
sexual orientation. This month, the city of Chicago issued
its most recent hate crime statistics which again sadly show
that the overwhelming number of hate crimes are committed
either because of the victim's race or sexual orientation.
My amendments are also consistent with the General
Assembly's actions in passing legislation that prohibits
bullying in schools. Earlier this week, I signed this
anti-bullying legislation, House Bill 646, into law. It is
well known and established that bullying frequently involves
forms of sexual harassment. I signed this important
legislation knowing that because of discrimination and
harassment in schools, our gay and lesbian youth are at least
three times more likely to attempt suicide. This is simply an
intolerable state of affairs and we must do more to protect
them both in and outside our schools.
There is another reason why I am compelled to urge
amendment of this legislation. Communities throughout
Illinois have already appropriately recognized that
discrimination based on an individual's sexual orientation is
wrong and entirely inconsistent with our fundamental concept
of democracy and the protections that should be afforded to
each and every citizen of this state and this nation. Indeed,
our public and private universities have enacted provisions
to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. The
County of Cook, the cities of Chicago, Champaign, DeKalb,
Evanston, LaGrange, Oak Park, and Urbana, among others, have
also long since passed ordinances and legislation to prohibit
discrimination based on sexual orientation. In fact, three
quarters of Illinoisans are already protected by such
non-discrimination legislation.
Because the state has previously failed to prohibit
discrimination against individuals because of their sexual
orientation, this has created an irrational situation where
an individual can be protected from such discrimination where
they reside, but must risk losing those protections when they
travel to other locales in the state. The Motorcyclists
Public Accommodation Act was clearly designed to ensure that
individuals could freely travel throughout this state and
avail themselves to public accommodations without fear of
prejudice or discrimination. Accordingly, this legislation is
an excellent vehicle to end this irrational and unequal
application of laws by prohibiting places of public
accommodations throughout Illinois from discriminating based
on an individual's perceived sexual orientation.
It is, and always has been, the duty of any democratic
governmental body to equally protect and serve the citizens
that fall under its jurisdiction. House Bill 1039 moves the
State of Illinois one step closer to that goal by recognizing
and prohibiting existing discriminatory practices. However,
House Bill 1039, as is, fails to protect a large number of
human beings who are in need of this form f protection. And a
set of laws that does not offer equal protection against
discrimination regardless of race, color, religion, national
origin, ancestry, age, gender, marital status, handicap, mode
of transportation, or sexual orientation does not serve
anyone except those who wish to be discriminatory,
prejudicial, hateful and intolerant.
I believe my recommended amendments are essential to
ensuring that the application of this legislation gives
effect to, and is consistent with, the Illinois Constitution,
including, among others, Section 1, 2, 12, 18, 20, 23 and 24
of Article I. My changes will without question "improve the
bill in material ways, yet not alter its essential purpose
and intent." See People ex rel. City of Canton v. Crouch, 79
Ill.2d 356 (1980).
As drafted, House Bill 1039 creates both a criminal
penalty (petty offense) and a civil penalty (monetary
damages, injunctive relief, court costs and attorney's fees)
for discrimination at a place of public accommodation solely
because a person is operating a motorcycle. In the case of
discrimination based upon race, gender or other status under
the Human Rights Act only civil and administrative relief is
available. A criminal penalty would only apply if a Criminal
Code offense is committed against the person because of their
race, gender or other status set for in the hate crime law. I
do not see a need for the type of discrimination covered by
this bill to carry both a criminal and a civil penalty. Such
a dispute is a civil dispute with the owner or operator of
the place of public accommodation, which can be fully
resolved in civil court without the need to resort to
criminal court.
For these reasons, I return House Bill 1039 with the
following recommendations for change:
on page 1, line 5, by deleting "Motorcyclist"; and
on page 1, by inserting between lines 21 and 22 the
following:
"As used in this Act, "sexual orientation"
means having or being perceived as having an
emotional, physical, or sexual attraction to another
person without regard to the sex of that person or
having or being perceived as having an orientation
for such attraction, or having or being perceived as
having a self-image or identity not traditionally
associated with one's biological maleness or
femaleness. "Sexual orientation" does not include a
physical or sexual attraction to a minor by an
adult.
Section 7. Construction. Nothing in this Act
shall be construed as requiring any owner, manager
or employee of a place of public accommodation to
give preferential treatment or special rights based
on mode of transportation or sexual orientation or
to implement affirmative action policies or programs
based on mode of transportation or sexual
orientation."; and
on page 1, line 26, by inserting before the period "or
because of the sexual orientation of the individual"; and
on page 2, line 2, by replacing "Penalty" with "Damages";
and
on page 2, by replacing lines 3 through 6 with "(a) A
person who access"; and
on page 2, line 17, by replacing "(c)" with "(b)"; and
on page 2, line 19, by deleting "penalties or".
With these changes, House Bill 1039 will have my
approval. A local politician once said, "Four score and seven
years ago, our forefathers brought forth on this continent a
new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal." That is what I
believe also -- no more, no less. I choose to stand with the
founder of my party and Illinois' greatest son, Abraham
Lincoln, and I urge you to do likewise.
Sincerely,
s/GEORGE H. RYAN
Governor