Opinion: San Diego County Human Relations Commission must remove member who doesn’t share its views

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Last month, The San Diego Union-Tribune brought to light a disturbing incident from November in which a member of the Leon L. Williams San Diego County Human Relations Commission repeatedly said that he, like God, saw transgender people as “an abomination.” In a follow-up interview with an editorial writer, Pastor Dennis Hodges applied his comments to transgender and homosexual people and said he hadn’t done “anything wrong.”

Given that the commission was established “to promote positive human relations, respect and the integrity of every individual regardless of gender, religion, culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age or citizenship status,” Hodges’ views are simply not compatible with the goals he is expected to uphold. Rather than remove him, county Supervisors Nathan Fletcher and Nora Vargas recommended the commission respond by crafting new bylaws. It did, proposing a code of conduct holding members accountable for behavior at odds with the commission’s purpose and a provision allowing the commission to remove a member for cause. County supervisors approved the bylaws on Tuesday on a 4-1 vote.

Hodges called the rules censorship and said “we’re not promoting positive human relations when we create laws that do not support the freedom of faith and belief.” Commissioner Cara Dessert, CEO of The San Diego LGBT Community Center, called Hodges’ words an attack and said, “I look forward to his removal to be docketed for our next commission meeting.” So does The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board. As Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer said, the right to free speech is not the right to serve on a government board.

Ultimately, county human relations commissioners must all understand they have no official standing to deny the humanity of others. The pastor’s most recent comments indicate he neither grasps nor accepts this obvious truth. The new bylaws will not be applied retroactively, but commissioners should ask Hodges if he’s seen the light, and if his answer is insufficient, they should remove him.