The Bid to Erase Irvine’s ‘Sexual Orientation’ Law

I am a member of the newly formed Irvine Citizens United, a broad-based citizens’ committee to defend Irvine’s human rights ordinance. A small anti-human rights group in our city has placed an initiative on the local November ballot that would remove the words “sexual orientation” from the ordinance.

As an ethnic minority senior woman and an Irvine resident for the past 18 years, I know that I am not the target of this attack by the anti-human rights group. At least not this time. They are not insisting that words “race, color, national origin, gender or age” be expunged from the ordinance. So you might think that I am not personally affected by this attack.

But I am affected in more ways than one, and I must speak out because this is one Irvine resident who will not be a passive supporter of bigotry in my community.

As a Japanese-American who was once singled out for exclusion during World War II, I am fully aware that this kind of mean-spiritedness would deprive our gay and lesbian sisters and brothers of their rightful place in our community. It is a threat to the very fabric of our democratic institution.

This initiative is trying to pull a thread out of this fabric to weaken it and may ultimately destroy us in a most fundamental way. The human rights ordinance is a landmark that reaffirms Irvine’s commitment to provide equal opportunity to participate fully in the economic, cultural and intellectual life of the city. What we’re talking about is protecting our very institution that is designed to protect all of us.

MITSUYE YAMADA

Irvine