 that the experiences of these plaintiffs were typical of the experiences of discrimination of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. Dr. Gonsiorek showed that lesbians, gay men and bisexuals are an identifiable class because of their shared sexual orientation toward people of the same gender and their shared history of discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation.
Plaintiff Mr. Asterino, who is 42, testified that he knew by an early age that he was gay and that he prayed to change. He was reluctant to "come out" to his family and co-workers and "came out" only this year to fight alleged sexual orientation discrimination at his job. Similarly, Plaintiff Ms. Mathis described her experience of discrimination as an African-American lesbian mother. Ms. Mathis cited instances of sexual orientation discrimination in her life and her fears not only for herself but for stigmatization or harassment of her son.
The Plaintiff Mr. Greene similarly testified via affidavit with respect to his experience of discrimination as an African-American gay man. Mr. Greene repeatedly experienced discrimination in employment prior to passage of the Human Rights Ordinance. He also showed the dual effects of racism and sexual orientation discrimination in his life.
In Mr. Guckenberger's opinion, if Article XII of the charter becomes effective, it is likely that elected city representatives and other city officials will be prevented from enacting, adopting, enforcing or administering any "ordinance, rule, regulation or policy" on behalf of gay, lesbian, and bisexual citizens, regardless of its merit. Mr. Guckenberger noted that after Issue 3, laws that benefit the gay and lesbian community will have to be adopted by Charter amendment  a burdensome task that requires a city wide campaign and support of a majority of the voters; a far more onerous task than lobbying the City Council or City administration for protection of the gay community.
*1238 Moreover, the point of doing the campaign work and gaining access to council's political 