According to the Human Rights Campaign, Murfreesboro does almost nothing to protect the LGBT+ community and that's why one local woman wants the city to create a Human Rights Commission.
After HRC released its HRC's Municipal Equality Index, Karie Adair discussed how Murfreesboro ended very last of the list for Tennessee with a dismal score of 12 of 100. So she launched a petition on Change.org.
"The petition came about as part of a discussion between Marisa Richmond, Kathy Halbooks, Kelly Houske, and myself back in January," Adair said, "where we talked about Murfreesboro's dismal score on the Human Rights Campaign's LGBT Equality Index, which rates major cities and towns based on how aligned their internal policies and legislative efforts are aligned with protecting and expanding LGBTQI+ rights."
But Adair wasn't just interested in protecting the rights of LGBT+ citizens. She also wants to protect other marginalized populations.
She said she thought about a conversation she had with Murfreesboro Muslim Youth organizer Abdou Katith.
"He believed that establishing a human rights commission at the county or city level would go a long way to protecting marginalized people, particularly refugees who have turned to our city to find a new home," Adair said.
"I saw how much the rights of refugees, the protection of LGBTQI+ rights, and ensuring that marginalized voices in general had a forum to be heard, all intersected, and creating my petition seemed like the best way to reach people and rally people to support the idea."
But the question remains: Does the Murfreesboro City Council care about marginalized voices?
She pointed out that Rutherford County and Murfreesboro are diverse compared to other Middle Tennessee counties, thanks to MTSU and Nissan.
"Simply because of the welcoming nature of this city to those looking for a safe and healthy community to put down roots in, our city is home to people from a wide array of cultural, religious, and social backgrounds," she said.
But that diversity isn't found in its elected officials or in the policies enacted by them.
"Our community has struggled with fairly representing the needs and voices of the marginalized," Adair said, pointing at the legal battle over the construction of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro and the terrible score on the HRC index.
The HRC index demonstrates the ways that many cities can, or in the case of Murfreesboro don't, support the LGBTQ people who live and work there, even where states and the federal government have failed to do so.
The only place where Murfreesboro scored any points was under the "Law Enforcement" section for reporting 2016 Hate Crimes Statistics to the FBI. Sections where it scored no points, meaning there is no support for LGBT+ individuals, are non-discrimination laws, protections for municipal employees, inclusion in municipal services, and leadership on LGBTQ Equality.
HRC is the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights organization in the nation.
To help the city hear the voices of these marginalized citizens, Adair is advocating for the formation of a human rights commission
"No matter one's ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity, we all are worth being heard. This commission will ensure that problems affecting marginalized communities are identified and addressed, and that the needs of the least privileged are treated with equal dignity and urgency as those who hold the most power," she said.
