Fired for being gay? It's legal in 29 states

Fired for being gay? It's legal in 29 states

Rights groups hope to see law change

WASHINGTON -- After a 15-year fight, gay rights' groups believe 2010 will be the year they persuade Congress to pass a landmark law protecting workers from being fired or denied jobs or promotions because of their sexual orientation.

With Democrats in the majority in the House and Senate and President Barack Obama promising to sign the bill, this is the best chance supporters have ever had to see passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, first introduced in 1994, said Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

"I think it's particularly poignant that this comes at a time when the nation is facing such a crisis in unemployment," Carey said. "Each day that a job is lost because of prejudice compounds the problem."

Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., is among the bill's nearly 200 co-sponsors in the House. Sen. Ted Kaufman, D-Del., is among 44 Senate co-sponsors.

"I think essentially it's a civil rights action for all Americans," said Castle, who voted for a similar bill in 2007. "I think that people should be entitled to work and shouldn't be discriminated against based on the obvious things: race, gender, religion, national origin, disability or sexual orientation."

Opponents fear the bill could pave the way for the legalization of gay marriage and create workplace discrimination against people whose religious beliefs denounce homosexuality.

Lead sponsors of the bill say they expect a vote in the House in the first quarter of this year. But others believe Congress may be afraid to pass the law in an election year.

The legislation before Congress would make it illegal to fire, refuse to hire or refuse to promote an employee based on a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. The gender identity provision seeks to protect transgender people, whom gay-rights' advocates say often face the worst discrimination.
The proposed law would not apply to the military or to religious organizations. It also would exempt small businesses with fewer than 15 employees.

The legislation does not require employers to provide domestic-partner benefits to the same-sex partners of their workers.

Delaware passed its own lesbian, gay and bisexual anti-discrimination law last year.

Gov. Jack Markell signed a transgender anti-discrimination executive order covering state employees.

Douglas Marshall-Steele, a Delaware LGBT advocate, said omitting transgender people from state laws targeting hate crimes and discrimination is "egregious," and federal legislation is needed to provide resources for states and to address issues states might miss.

There are 29 states where employees can still be fired because of their sexual orientation. Discrimination against transgender people is legal in 38 states, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Meanwhile, 87 percent of Fortune 500 companies have adopted policies barring discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Nicole Theis, president of the Seaford-based Delaware Family Policy Council, opposes the legislation and cited a "dangerous trend" in the nation where sexual liberty is winning out over religious liberty.
"I just don't think the issue is job discrimination," she said. "I think it's whether private businesses will be forced by law to accommodate homosexual activists' attempts to legitimize homosexual behavior."