Peoria vice mayor sought LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination law before resignation demand
Before Peoria Mayor Jason Beck and the City Council asked Vice Mayor Denette Dunn to resign, the vice mayor was trying to pass a city ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
In June, Dunn, who represents the city's southern Pine District, hosted an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization at a community meeting to discuss the importance of the nondiscrimination ordinance. Throughout the summer, she sought a meeting with Mesa city officials to review that city's ordinance language, which passed in 2021.
But recently, a group of Peoria residents tied to Beck has lashed out against Dunn's efforts, and she thinks the opposition is being driven by her unwillingness to step down from the City Council. A GOP Facebook group for Arizona's 28th Legislative District, which was strongly supportive of Beck in his mayoral campaign, raised alarm about the nondiscrimination ordinance in several posts.
"Vice Mayor Denette Dunn wants to bring far left LGBTQ ordinance to Peoria!" says one photo posted by the group. In another, the group calls One Community, the advocacy group Dunn hosted at her meeting, a "radical left organization."
The LD28 group urged followers to email the council with concerns. A handful of residents did, sending the council emails in late September.
"Absolutely disgusting for inviting that woke liberal ... to speak on a mentally deranged topic. ... Stop the BS! Signed, one of many residents that are focused in on this!!" said one emailer.
Another said he didn't want "far left ideological influences" seeping into the school system because of the ordinance.
"Stop trying to turn everyone gay or lesbian, and stop promoting gender changes. Stop trying to sway our children into thinking it's ok to be mentally unstable by going against what the Bible says," wrote another.
Dunn said the backlash misunderstands the purpose of the ordinance and bolsters her belief that Beck asked her to resign over LGBTQ+ issues — that he tried to push her out because he disagreed with the policy. Dunn said she believes Beck is orchestrating the community pushback against her given her reluctance to vacate her seat.
Beck did not respond to questions from The Arizona Republic asking if he was behind the onslaught of emails.
What prompted the calls for Dunn's resignation?
Beck and the council asked Dunn to resign in August, two months after Dunn ramped up her efforts on the nondiscrimination ordinance.
At first, her colleagues offered little explanation for requesting her resignation, but then the city released a police report, which they pointed to as justification.
The report showed Dunn had allowed a man who is a registered sex offender to occasionally stay at her house over the past year. The man was supposed to register Dunn's address to notify surrounding neighbors of his presence. Failing to do so was a violation of state law, police said, and Beck argued Dunn's involvement in the matter broke public trust.
Beck, the City Council and the city manager refused to explain why the council opted to immediately request Dunn's resignation counter to the city's own council-approved ethics policy. The protocol outlines how to handle allegations of ethical misconduct, and had the city followed it, conversations would have occurred in public meetings. Instead, the city initially tried to schedule a confidential, closed-door meeting with the vice mayor.
But Dunn has remained steadfast in her belief that the sex offender issue was not the reason the City Council asked her to resign. Instead, she said, she believes Beck was retaliating against her for attempting to push a nondiscrimination ordinance.
Dunn said she believes her attempts to push him to protect LGBTQ+ Peoria residents would hinder his reputation among the Christian conservatives and far-right wing of the Republican party that make up part of his base.
The ordinance was never placed on a city meeting agenda for discussion or a vote, but Dunn said things changed with Beck after the June community meeting where she introduced the idea.
"I knew with that meeting that I pissed him off," Dunn said. "Because communication got less."
Dunn said she had a conversation with Beck about the ordinance in August and that he seemed hesitant to learn more about it. Beck said they never discussed a nondiscrimination ordinance or argued over public policy. He said she's trying to "play politics" to deflect from her relationship with a sex offender.
When asked how he felt about a nondiscrimination ordinance, and whether he would support one in Peoria, Beck did not respond. The Republic reached out a second time for comment, but the mayor again did not respond.
But from Dunn's point of view, there was no way the mayor didn't know about her nondiscrimination ordinance efforts.
Dunn had city leaders at her June meeting, including Assistant City Manager Rick Buss. Buss is a close ally of Beck's and worked for the mayor at Tyr Tactical before Beck took public office.
Beck opened Tyr Tactical in 2010. The company develops and sells items such as bulletproof vests and shields for police departments across the country and military forces around the globe. Today, his business is Peoria's largest private employer, with just over 300 workers.
City emails also show Peoria City Attorney Emily Jurmu was scheduled to attend the meeting to review Mesa's nondiscrimination ordinance with Dunn on Aug. 16. The Mesa meeting never happened. Dunn canceled it, concerned about ruffling feathers further with Beck, she said.
Other Peoria Council members declined to comment on Dunn's proposed ordinance, other than to say they knew little or nothing about it. Dunn said she hadn't widely discussed the ordinance with council members.
Beck allies, ordinance critics tied to anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment
The GOP Facebook group for Legislative District 28 that blasted Dunn for the ordinance and her meeting with One Community is led by Lori Bango, an avid supporter of Beck during his mayoral campaign.
Bango is a QAnon believer and founder of the Arizona Christian Patriots LLC. QAnon refers to the false conspiracy that a cabal of Satan-worshipping Democratic pedophiles is ruling the world.
What is QAnon? Learn about the false conspiracy in a slideshow
Posts from Bango's Facebook show the Bango and Beck families recently attended a Cardinals football game. In her post, Bango thanked Beck for inviting everyone to the suite and wrote, "WE ARE the Beck Brigade."
The images also include Thomas Bottorf, who has attended City Council meetings wearing a hat that says Beck Brigade, and who has filed paperwork to challenge Councilman Brad Shafer, a foe of Beck's, for the Mesquite District seat in 2024. Bottorf posted an anti-trans meme on his public Facebook page in June.
In his run for Peoria mayor, Beck pitched himself as a Christian conservative. He amassed widespread support from a broad and diverse swath of Peoria residents who were drawn to his message about being a mayor for all of Peoria and the city living up to its full potential.
His support for and from some conservative and far-right individuals, however, raised concerns among some of his critics and even some of his more centrist supporters at the time.
Beck donated $1,500 to the campaign of now-Peoria school board member Heather Rooks, who pushed unsuccessfully this year to pass a district policy preventing transgender students from accessing facilities consistent with their gender identity.
Rooks recently sued the Peoria school district after district officials asked her to stop reciting Bible verses during board meetings. Rooks is being represented by former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew Gould, also a former candidate for Arizona attorney general. Beck donated to Gould in the 2022 election.
Beck also donated $5,000 to Abe Hamadeh, a former candidate for attorney general who said people who believe in a gender spectrum are stupid and "lust for power." He has also called gender-affirming care "genital mutilation."
Peoria schools: Why the Peoria Unified school board rejected an anti-trans bathroom policy
Also during Beck's campaign for mayor, former employees told The Republic Beck led a sometimes hostile work environment where homophobic jokes were the norm.
In a recording provided to The Republic, Beck can be heard referring to an employee as a "transvestite" — a derogatory term referring to cross-dressers. In the recording, Beck was discussing placing a transgender employee on a team with a manager who could handle the dynamics professionally.
Beck told The Republic at the time the incident showed how he cares for employees.
In the same recording, employees tell Beck about another transgender employee.
"There's another transgender? ... Man, that's hilarious," Beck said with a sigh in the recording.
Addressing his use of the word "hilarious," Beck told The Republic he simply didn't realize the person was transgender.
"I actually thought it was a female. So, pretty simple," he said.
LGBTQ+ protection ordinance personal for Dunn
Dunn told The Republic she spent years being afraid of the fact that she is gay and now wants to stand up for other LGBTQ+ Peoria residents, especially since it is her final term on the City Council.
Dunn has spent years trying unsuccessfully to pass a nondiscrimination measure in Peoria, including under former Mayor Cathy Carlat.
She said she has watched elected officials in Peoria make fun of gay and transgender people and was tired of the bullying.
"I knew if I didn't say something, and if I didn't do something about it, that it was shame on me," Dunn said.
Aside from considering herself part of the LGBTQ+ community, Dunn said the protections are of particular importance to her because a member of her family died by suicide after enduring anti-LGBTQ+ bullying.
"It's my job to serve everybody, and it should be Jason's job because that's a promise he made on his campaign, that he would be a mayor for all. And I'm sorry, but that does include transgender kids as well," Dunn said.
What the ordinance would and wouldn't do
The ordinance would mimic what 11 other Valley cities have already passed, Dunn said. It would add protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in businesses that serve the public and access to housing and employment. The ordinance would not apply to K-12 schools or religious institutions.
Currently, Arizona does not have a statewide ban on discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals — although Gov. Kate Hobbs, a Democrat, signed an executive order on her first day in office banning LGBTQ+ discrimination at state agencies and for state contractors.
Michael Soto, the One Community speaker at Dunn's meeting, said implementing inclusive protections would give LGBTQ+ people in Peoria "equal protections, not special protections."
State and federal laws typically protect "sex, race, age, disability, color, national creed or origin," Soto said, but a city ordinance would add sexual orientation and gender identity for explicit protection.
Federal housing and employment laws barring sex discrimination have been interpreted by the courts or the Biden administration to prohibit sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. For instance, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in 2021 that effectively declared workplace discrimination against gender identity or sexual orientation illegal.
But the federal law underlying the employment ruling only applies to employers with 15 or more employees. The federal Fair Housing Act also has its limits, and no federal law protects against sex discrimination in access to public businesses.
The local protections would ensure gay and transgender individuals are not denied access to service in public places or businesses, such as "doctor's offices and hospitals, not just bakeries and public restrooms," according to the slideshow Soto presented to Dunn's group.
"It simply means that if I go into an emergency room, I don't get kicked out because I'm a transgender person," Soto said.
Reporter Taylor Seely covers metro Phoenix for The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com. Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or by phone / Signal at 480-476-6116.
Reporting from Madeleine Parrish, who covers K-12 education for The Republic, and Renata Clo, who formerly covered Scottsdale for The Republic, was included in this report.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Dunn sought LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination in Peoria before call to resign
