Praise: Tom Casady and Ben Gray of Nebraska on LGBTQ Legislation

Mr. Casady, who served seven years as the Chief of Police, is now Safety Director of Lincoln, Nebraska. He is the first two and a half of testimony and another two minutes is question and answer.

The rest of the seventeen minute video is Mr. Gray, a city councilman of Omaha, Nebraska.  He is largely responsible for the similar legislation in Omaha.  Mr. Gray's testimony begins at 4:17 and runs for about five minutes with the rest of the clip being question and answer.

This discussion of why the LGBTQ Community should have legal protection from harassment is something that I wish could be heard by those who continually claim that they are "protecting the family".  This was an important part of more than seven hours of a public hearing yesterday in Lincoln. 

Part of the discussion involves a decision made a few days ago by the Attorney General of Nebraska, Jon Bruning, that local municipalities "are not authorized to expand protected classes beyond the scope of the civil rights provided for in state statute."  The question was asked by Nebraska State Senator Beau McCoy, the author of LB 912, a bill that failed in committee, that would have prohibited local communities from creating hate crime laws.

Brilliant and well thought out answers by both Director Casady and Councilman Gray.  Many thanks to Aksarbent for making this available.