On Saturday, June 11, 2011, New Orleans City Council Vice-President Arnie Fielkow was honored by the Human Rights Campaign with an Equality Award. This award is given to recognized leaders in the community who have done exceptional work in the area of human rights. This year, the dinner theme was Our Families. Councilman Fielkow is an ardent supporter of equal human rights, and he has been especially vocal in supporting equal adoption rights.
Acceptance Speech:
Thank you, Tim.
Thank you to the New Orleans Human Rights Campaign Steering Committee and to Joe Solmonese, President of the HRC, for this great honor. But most of all, thank you to everyone in the room for your tireless work to ensure progress toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality.
I am humbled beyond words to be up here tonight accepting this award alongside Kelly and Erika, two very brave women whom I last saw when we were testifying in support of House Bill 288 for second parent adoption.
As many of you know, my first foray into the political arena came about after Hurricane Katrina. While I was always civically engaged, my lifelong professional goal was sports business and law, culminating in my dream job as Executive Vice President of the Saints. But, as with many New Orleanians, Katrina shifted my life’s course, and I am incredibly honored to now be in my second term on the New Orleans City Council.
Although unplanned, this career shift has yielded some of the most fulfilling years of my life. The rewards of serving the city are immeasurable but, most important to me, I get to fight for the causes that I always believed in, the causes that I always trusted would and should be on a political agenda. And human rights are at the top of that list.
I have been blessed to work with many of you here tonight in advocating for a topic of great personal interest – equal adoption rights. Adoption is about bringing kids into a loving and safe home, a home like the one that Erika and Kelly have created.
My wife Susan and I have two adopted daughters, Yana Shira and Svetlana, and together with our three sons they are the joys of our life. Yana and Sveta have two legally recognized parents who love them very much. But why should such parenthood be limited to a heterosexual married couple or a single person when millions of kids worldwide simply want to be loved? Loving families come in all shapes and forms, and no one has the ethical right to declare one better than another. Isn’t it about time that the focus be solely on what is in the best interest of the child? And, isn’t it for sure the right time for the voices of bigotry and hatred – including those hiding under religious garb or the hypocritical Louisiana Family Forum – to finally be muted. All adoptive parents should be given the same respect regardless of sexual orientation. Hopefully, our leaders in Baton Rouge and Washington will recognize the appropriateness of that important position.
Our campaign for human rights, however, cannot end with adoption rights. We need a comprehensive immigration reform that will treat every person on US soil with respect and dignity. We need to pass the DREAM Act, legislation that would allow kids brought to the States before the age of 16 the opportunity to obtain higher education so that they can contribute back to their communities.
We need to advocate for protecting workers that have fallen victim to wage theft. An honest wage should be paid for an honest day’s work; and we are hypocrites if those workers that have helped us rebuild New Orleans, regardless of their country of origin, are denied compensation for work they have performed.
Equality is also enhanced through more DBE contracting and the reform of New Orleans recreation last year. Some parks and playgrounds had top-of-the-line facilities and programming; meanwhile, others were derelict from years of neglect. Our children’s recreation opportunities should not vary to such a degree based on the zip code they live in, and the newly formed Recreation Commission is currently working to eradicate all such inequities.
The Hebrew word for ‘equality’ is ‘shivyon’, and it is my guiding principle for every issue that I face as a City Councilmember. As all of you know from experience, it is not common for equality, or shivyon, to be easily achieved. But, none of us are alone in this quest. All we have to do is look around the room tonight, including my mom, my wife and my children, to see the faces of those that are wholly committed to fighting for equality and justice. Even more comforting is knowing that the HRC represents a force of more than one million members and supporters nationwide who share this same goal.
We have numbers and morality on our side, and that is a lot!
Thank you to the HRC for this award. Thanks to each of you for always fighting for what is right. Know that I am with you each step of the way.
