BOISE - One week into her first legislative session, freshman Rep. Paulette Jordan, D-Plummer, is stepping out front on an issue many lawmakers have tried to ignore.

Jordan will be one of the keynote speakers at an Add the Words rally on the Statehouse steps Saturday.

The Add the Words campaign has been trying for nine years to get the words "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" added to the Idaho Human Rights Act, to help prevent employment and housing discrimination against gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual individuals.

"Having personal freedom is something we all should be able to enjoy, not just a privileged few," Jordan said. "I would hope to see most representatives come together on this. It doesn't matter what our color or religion, we can all pull back to some point in history when we've experienced discrimination."

The rally begins at noon. Jordan will be joined by Boise Police Chief Mike Masterson and other guest speakers.

Evangeline Beechler, one of the event organizers, said it's "surprising and shocking to realize that, in this day and age, it's actually still legal under Idaho law to fire a hardworking employee, deny them an apartment, deny them service in a restaurant and otherwise discriminate against them simply because they're gay or transgender."

Although Republicans have historically opposed efforts to amend the Human Rights Act, Jordan said legislators should take advantage of their position to provide leadership on issues of concern.

"Even though we (Democrats) are in the minority, we still represent a broad base of Idaho citizens," she said. "We are the people's party, so we can be in the forefront."

Jordan said much of what she says Saturday will be from the heart.

"I'll talk about fairness and why it's important to end discrimination," she said. "People have been discriminated against for their religion, their background, their gender - even their age - but how we treat people under Idaho law should be fair."

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Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.