Tag Archives: T-Shirts
New Ky. laws dealing with dropout age, religious beliefs take effect Tuesday
Photo courtesy of Kentucky.com
This is an article that you might want to read if you have been following the recent developments of House Bill 279.
Paul Brown commented on the development.
http://www.kentucky.com/2013/06/24/2691081/new-ky-laws-dealing-with-dropout.html
GLSO Files Complaint With Lexington Human Rights Commission
In furtherance of the GLSO’s goal to educate the community on the ongoing issue with Hands On Originals, the GLSO board of directors has decided to release the following information.
Since posting the information about Hands On Originals, the GLSO has received a lot of attention. The board members of the GLSO have been listening. The board has decided to file a discrimination complaint with the HRC. The board does not wish to engage in nor does it condone name-calling, bad-mouthing, or threatening businesses. The board has two simple goals in this situation: 1) educating the community and 2) refusing to tolerate discrimination.
The board has already begun educating the community by posting this situation to its websites. It will continue to educate throughout the process of the complaint.
As for the second goal, the board does not agree with discrimination in any manner and will not tolerate discrimination. Lexington has had a Fairness Ordinance for 13 years because the citizens of Lexington voted against discrimination. The GLSO believes in the Fairness Ordinance and refuses to let discrimination go unaddressed. As a result, board president Aaron Baker filed the complaint today.
As part of our commitment to transparency, we have included the text of our complaint below:
“The Pride Festival committee of the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization (GLSO) received a quote from Hands On Originals in December by phone (from an employee named Kaleb) to produce t-shirts for the 5th annual Pride Festival in Lexington. The quote from Hands On Originals was the lowest bid from a local company, and the committee intended to move forward with having them produce shirts. However, a committee member first called the business with the intention of finding out whether any lower price could be negotiated. He reached someone there who asked who he had previously talked to. At that moment, he could not remember their name, and when the name “Blaine” was suggested, he agreed. Numerous phone messages back and forth were exchanged before the committee member was finally able to speak with Blaine, who represented himself as an owner of Hands On Originals. His inquiries were related to what the GLSO was, what our mission was, and what we were promoting. The committee member explained, including that the t-shirt would only contain a stylized number “5” on the front and the name of the festival, and sponsors on the rear. When Blaine learned that it was a gay pride festival, he asked, “You know we’re a Christian organization, don’t you?” He then continued on to say that Hands On Originals would not print shirts related to a gay pride festival. He suggested that he could refer us to a different business who would print the shirts. Our committee member told them he would take that offer to the board, but that he felt that we would not want to do business with anyone who did business with Hands On Originals, based on their discrimination. On March 25th, the GLSO board met in emergency session and agreed to file a complaint with the HRC under the Lexington Fairness Ordinance.”
Stay tuned to the GLSO and Pride Festival websites for more information. Thank you for all the community support.
Be Proud!
HANDS ON IS HANDS OFF
In an effort to educate the community, the Pride Festival Committee has decided to release the following information.
The committee is very proud to report great progress toward Lexington’s 5th Pride Festival. As always, the committee gathered quotes for t-shirt printing. Since Hands On Originals provided the best quote, the committee voted to accept their quote. However, Hands On Originals called Pride’s merchandise director, to say they had to decline the job. They reported that due to being a Christian organization they could not print things related to the Pride Festival.
This discrimination is the first real setback the Pride Committee has faced. Members of the committee displayed shock. Many wondered if perhaps the economy had gotten better since Hands On could turn down a sale. Pride Festival chair Paul Brown questioned, “Where in Christian doctrine does it suggest that Christians should openly discriminate? What about ‘love thy neighbor’?”
Ultimately, the Committee decided the best reaction was not to lie down and cry but to educate the community about the discrimination still present in Lexington and let the community decide where they want to spend their hard-earned money.
On a positive note, two other companies are stepping up to print the t-shirts. The offer of these two companies will bring the printing cost in several hundred dollars below budget. While discrimination is still alive and vibrant, so is progress.