Statement regarding proposed Fairness Ordinance

Please note this statement is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Public statement to the Daviess County Fiscal Court, Public Forum on the proposed Fairness Ordinance January 30, 2020


My name is Chad Gesser. I am an Associate Professor of Sociology and have been a full time professor for 16 years of the 25 years I’ve been teaching. I’ve also been a small business owner for the past 10 years.

I am here speaking this evening out of a sense of obligation. I have been fortunate for the past 25 years to be able to engage with students in the classroom, mostly introducing them to my field of study: Sociology. For those that do not know, sociology is the study of society. My field of study is built on a body of research and we examine all topics relative to be human, to be in society.

My sense of obligation centers around my areas of specialty, which include culture, inequality, and community. Over the past 20 years inequality has been a central focus of my field of study, particularly in the United States.

I teach a course entitled Inequality in Society. During that class, which lasts about 4 ½ months, we cover in great detail subject matter central to inequality in society. These topics include race, social class, gender, and sexual preference.

At the heart of each of these topics are the topics of prejudices, stereotypes, discrimination, and institutional prejudice and discrimination. On the surface these topics appear emotionally charged. The benefit that I and the students have in the classroom setting is that we are intentionally there to study these topics. As a result, my classes are always thoughtful, detailed, conversive, and frankly rewarding. Students find this class helpful in their understanding of people that may be different than the groups they belong to. Students also gain insight on topics central to inequality.

I would like to share a couple of insights from my professional experience that bear on topics relative to this evening’s public hearing.

First, culture has changed drastically over the past 20 years. As a result, people from different age groups increasingly have difficulty relating to one another. At the same time, community life has also become quite diverse.

For example, according to a 2019 report by the Pew Research Center, in 2004 only 31% of the American public approved of same sex marriage. In 2019 that number grew to 61%. When we look at those that indicate they oppose or approve of gay marriage over the past 16 years, the data actually are flipped flop over time. I bring up this particular point of information because for me, with my students, it stands as one of the most remarkable shifts in public opinion in the modern era. This is also relevant because of age groups. I mentioned this earlier. Many of us in this room grew up in an era where there was non acceptance of members of the LGBTQ community. I’m here to tell you that fact is not my fault, and it’s not your fault. But, culture and the times have changed.

When I cover this material with my students (certainly those of the younger generation) there often is a sense of relief. The students are glad to hear that their acceptance of members of the LGBTQ community is not a behavior that is inconsistent with the acceptance or lack thereof in the country. Young people feel the community does not represent their standards and values of acceptance.

We don’t have to look to national information to chart the acceptance of members of the LGBTQ community. As you know, many Kentucky communities have adopted fairness ordinances prohibiting LGBTQ discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. These include Louisville (1999), Lexington (1999), Covington (2003), Vicco (2013), Frankfort (2013), Morehead (2013), Danville (2014), Midway (2015), Paducah (2018), and Maysville (2018), Henderson (2019), Dayton (2019), Georgetown (2019), and Versailles (2019). Given the movement of these fairness ordinances, communities that overtly choose not to enact these protections do in fact give voice to prejudice and discrimination at the individual and the policy level. I do believe this is a very important consideration as you reflect upon your decision of this ordinance. What will you be saying to the public, to other communities, to businesses, if you choose not to pass this ordinance?

I now want to speak from a different vantage point. I’m married and have been for 22 years to my lovely and inspiring wife Susan. We are both from Owensboro-Daviess County. We have four children: ages 19, 15, 12, and 5. We are also both practicing Catholics, and our family are members of Sts. Joseph and Paul Parish.

I believe that in part I represent the silent majority. I’m not on either extreme of this “debate.” While I believe in the dignity of each person, regardless of race, gender, social class, and sexual preference, I also understand that your decision is a political one. Politics is not always moral, it’s not always ethical, it’s not always fair. What I do know is that culture has changed. We as a population of people are different now than we were 30 years ago, 20 years ago, even 10 years ago.

Be careful to hear only the extremes, and consider doing what is right not for you but for the good of this community and its future.

On MLK and Dignity

My family's background in justice was pivotal in both my educational and career trajectory. My graduate studies centered on culture and development. I've been teaching Sociology since 1993 and certainly over that time topics related to race, gender, social class, and sexuality have been at the center. Since 2006 I've taught Inequality in Society, and it is through this work in the classroom with students that my perspectives on inequality have come clearer in focus.

In the fall of 2014 I was approached by colleague Dr. Lewatis McNeal about speaking at the upcoming MLK Day event on our campus. Dr. McNeal was part of a local planning committee for the event. I frankly was stunned. What business does a white male have in giving the keynote address at this prestigious community event? Lewatis and I did know each other but I tend to think he knew something about me that others did not know: that I had an educational background similar to Dr. King, and that I had a unique interest in race and equality. Now, each MLK Day I share through my social media the transcript of Dr. King from Morehouse College, where he majored in Sociology and took the following courses: Introduction to Sociology, Contemporary Social Trends in America, Social Anthropology, Intercultural Relations, Social Institutions, Social Legislation, Statistics, Principles and Methods of Statistics, and a Seminar in Sociology:

Dr. McNeal and I did discuss that in our initial meeting, and I did accept the incredible honor of speaking that January 2015, to commemorate MLK. That invitation and that presentation stands as one of the highlights of my life and career. So much so that each MLK Day I do find myself reflecting even more on his life and how my life and work relates to his.

Below is the presentation I used that day (I've removed two slides from the original because they included links to sources that no longer function):

This year on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day I'm stuck in reflection on many things. I would not consider myself an MLK Scholar, but my daughter is an official one at the University of Louisville. She's on scholarship there as a MLK Scholar, and it stands as a huge badge of honor for her, for me, and our family. We were both very excited to be able to visit the MLK Memorial together in March of 2019.

My daughter Jackie and I at the MLK Memorial, Washington, D.C. March 2019

And now, dignity

While I'm a fan of Bob Dylan and his catalog I'm certainly not well versed on his variety of albums and songs. I believe I only became first aware of this song "Dignity" not too long after he performed on MTV's Unplugged in 1994. His pronunciation of the word dignity simply was enough for me to fall in love with the song and its subject matter. I was an early graduate student in sociology in 1994 and was pursuing topics related to dignity.

What Dylan speaks to is the various circumstances where one looks for dignity. Dylan suggests everyone is looking for dignity, even in the most unlikely of places. Dignity is not simplified, and as Dylan attests, sometimes dignity cannot be found. For example:

"Got no place to fade, got no coat

I'm on the rollin' river in a jerkin' boat

Tryin' to read a note somebody wrote

About dignity

Sick man lookin' for the doctor's cure

Lookin' at his hands for the lines that were

And into every masterpiece of literature

For dignity"

As I reflect today on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day I can't help but to think about dignity. King was deeply concerned about dignity. He thought about it, studied it, and it was a deeply spiritual conviction. Dignity is found sprinkled throughout his famous quotes, and certainly it was at the heart of his movement for equal rights.

MLK Memorial, March 2019

In light of the political climate related to topics of equality and rights (both local and national) over the past few years, I found myself in a moment in March 2019 while visiting the Lincoln Memorial. There I thought about Lincoln, and what he would think about the state of politics and our culture. As I stood at the top of the steps, I turned around and reflected on Dr. King's "I have a dream speech," given in front of 250,000 people across the Washington Mall.

Today in 2020, I continue to think regularly about these topics. I continue to teach about them, and I continue to work to live in such a manner as to personally respect the rights of every person. I too find myself thinking about my own dignity. Where do I find dignity? How do I get dignity? Dignity belongs to everyone, even in the smallest of ways. Dignity can take the form of introspection of self, of others, in interaction, in inaction, in culture, and in society.

But doesn't dignity seem lost within modern life? Even the consideration of dignity is complicated. I do think Bob Dylan's "Dignity" is particularly poignant in this regard. It is perhaps through this type of art that this importance in life and living can be accessed.

Dr. King's consideration of dignity took many forms. It took the form of dignity by recognition of the rights of others: through race, social class, creed. And yet access to dignity can exist in so many other contexts of human interaction and form. And the consideration of dignity is not just when it's convenient. It's now, and it's all the time. This underlies the challenge posed to every person by Dr. King. Not only where does one find dignity, but how do our interactions, our culture, and our society provide a context for which others too can have access and find dignity?

I do not underestimate the importance of the emotional, intellectual, and relationship work of the recognition of dignity. I think it took Martin Luther King, Jr.'s early life experiences and his studies of topics related to dignity for him to then to have found the courage to act out his principles in real time: in interactions, with others, and in society. No, he absolutely was not perfect. And getting access to the subject of dignity is not always a straight shot or linear. But it became to be his effort, his work.

Let's continue to take that intention forward in our personal lives, in our interactions with others. It takes work, it takes time. Keep at it.

Chad Gesser

Spring 2012 is here!

Minor updates: November 2019

It's funny.  I looked at my last post here at The Sociology Blog (see directly below).  It mentioned my intent to grow the blog.  The fact of the matter is that the Fall 2011 was nothing short of beastly for me.

What I've also realized is that not everything I do or like to do has to flow only through this blog space.  I have many services I maintain, and most all of that can be accessed now through my homepage.  Click here or visit the "My Website" link above.

Just as in the past, I'm using the following quite a bit.  I'm including these as links directly to content that I've made available to everyone.

In short, as the revised introduction at the top of this page says, I'm going to use this blog for the meantime as historical record.  With my family life (married with three young children), school work and other interests, I just don't find the time and perhaps not the interest to regularly maintain this blog; at least for now.

Again, I curate and am very active with the following services.  You'll see some things when you click them.  Feel free to engage with me.  I'm a regular Twitter user.

Google Reader

Twitter

The Sociology Interest Links

YouTube

Presentations and other resources

"You Say It's Your Birthday!!!"

Well, it's here yet once again. The day that some relish, the day that some long to forget. January 23rd for me is my birthday.



I'll be 33 years of age this year. I'd like to take a look back on the past year for posterity's sake.



This time last year the Louisville Cardinals were hot to trot. I remember watching them beat then #2 ranked Florida in Louisville. It was awe inspiring, especially since Franciso Garcia had lost his brother just about a week before the game. His brother was shot in Brooklyn. Francisco played with such heart, and motioned to the heavens at each opportunity. I saw the Cards play Tennessee today, and Francisco plays with his brother's memory heavy on his soul. However, instead of burden, he plays with his brother's memory as inspiration.



Right around the beginning of February last year is when my dad began his steady decline until he passed away in March 2004. I've spoken to this before, and you can read more about it by clicking here. The past year was obviously marked by my dad's passing, and the birth of my second child. I was trying to think about what I was going to write in this post earlier, and I had to look far back into my memory to recall much of anything besides those two things.



I also began a new job this year. The job I now have was originally offered to someone else, and then re-offered to me right after dad's passing. Then later in the year, I interviewed for the teaching position. That strangely did not work out, but things have been just fine with my new job, my new colleagues, and my somewhat new line of work. Shoot, I wouldn't be writing this post if I hadn't started my new job. I have been afforded a creativity that I have so long desired. It could not have come at a better time.



Susan is now finishing up law school. We were right in the middle of her law school this time last year. It's amazing how that time has passed, and for me it's not at all too soon.



Jacquelyn has come so far in the past year. Kids do indeed grow up too quick. Her and I have been through a lot the past several years, and we have only grown stronger for it. She's an extraordinary child. I know that sounds so cliche, but I enjoy her personality, her laughter, her effort at becoming herself.



So, I'm turning 33. I still find myself searching for myself. I guess we all always do, trying to get to know ourselves a little better each day. I noticed yesterday that Josie would look at me and laugh, and then spill into crying. I realized that when she looked into the soul of my eyes, she could tell I was still hurting because dad is gone. So I took her into my arms, and looked her in her eyes, and told her, "You know honey, it's ok. It's ok to have sadness in your soul. We are going to be ok." No, she did not completely understand my language. But I can now honestly say she understands my eyes and my soul. She is happier for it, and I could ask for nothing more than understanding.



Now Josie and I are together. Jackie and Susan have been with me the whole time. I feel fortunate to have learned through thought, reflection, and experience that happiness and sadness in the soul can coexist. You cannot run away from yourself.



Over the past year I'm happy to say I've become more centered, more prayerful. I don't pray a lot, but I'm settled in my soul and in my spirit. I try to bring a peace to my family. Yesterday Jackie told me she was my guardian angel. How can I not be at peace knowing I have the eyes of God watching me? Not waiting for me to take a wrong step, but to be there to catch me when I stammer or fall. Focusing on those that are dear to us is the most important thing that we can do. I'll never forget my dad telling me his only responsibility in his life was his wife and kids. What a fine world he and mom made for me. That type of security is needed in these times of disaster, war, and tribulation. Teaching a showing strength to others is something I carry forward in my family's name.



So I now smile. I hope if you have read this, you will accept a happy birthday wish from me to you. You, whoever you are, are obviously one of many reasons why my birthday to me is special. Not to mention that my wife Susan always does well by me for my birthday. Her buying me a keyboard, when I couldn't play it, was one of the most special things she has done for me. She is pursuing her dream by finishing law school. She knew I always wanted to play piano. She was saying to me, "Well, play!"



On my birthday, Happy Birthday from me to you, and thanks to all that play a little special part in my life.