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365Gay.com
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House
Committee Hears From
Gay
Victims Of Job Discrimination
From the
Web, September 5, 2007
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Washington -- A string of gays
and lesbians told a House committee on Wednesday of being fired solely because
of their sexuality and called on Congress to enact the Federal Employment
Non-Discrimination Act.
The bill was introduced in Congress in April. If passed and signed by the
president it be illegal to fire, refuse to hire or refuse to promote an employee
based on the person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Brooke Waits, a Texas cell phone company employee, told the committee of being
terminated because anti-gay job discrimination.
Waits fought back tears as she described being fired the day after her
supervisor looked at her personal cell phone and saw a picture of her kissing
her girlfriend on New Year’s Eve.
Michael Carney, a Springfield, Massachusetts police officer said that he made a
conscious decision to remain in the closet after witnessing an incident at his
police academy graduation party.
Carney said that he saw a fellow officer come out of the men's room with a
bloody nose. The man had been beaten by a police supervisor because he had
brought a male friend to the party.
Things have improved in Springfield, mainly because Massachusetts has a state
law barring discrimination that includes gays. Carney's appearance, in
full uniform, before the committee had the endorsement of police commissioner
Edward Flynn.
Still, said Carney, countless gay, lesbian and transsexual workers across the
country are in states without protections.
"It is time for a federal law that would make it illegal to fire a GLBT person
just because of who they are," Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese
told the committee.
"ENDA will bring the value of meritocracy to a community that has had to do
without it for too long."
The legislation is sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Rep. Deborah Pryce
(R-OH), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT).
Frank and Baldwin called on the committee to advance the measure.
"One’s sexual orientation or gender identity simply must not bar a person from
the opportunity to achieve his or her potential, to support her family, or to
contribute to his or her community," said Solmonese.
"Civil rights laws have improved job opportunity for millions of Americans,
raising standards of living and providing hope of a better future for each
successive generation. ENDA will bring the GLBT community, at last, under
the protection of federal civil rights law. The time has come to pass it."
In 31 states, it's still legal to fire someone because they're gay; in 39 states
it is legal to fire someone for being transgender.
The bill has the endorsement of leading Democrats and major labor groups.
In May the Transport Workers Union of America became the latest union to
announce its support for the measure. The union represents 130,000 workers
nationwide.
The extent of workplace discrimination became evident in June when a study was
released showing employment harassment remains at nearly the same level it did a
decade ago.
The study, by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, found that 15 to
43 percent of lesbian, gay, or bisexual people experienced employment
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
The numbers are remarkably similar to conclusions from a survey of studies
conducted in 1992, which found that 16% to 68% of LGB respondents reported
experiencing employment discrimination at some point in their lives.
Transgender individuals reported similar levels of discrimination, with 20 to 57
percent of trans respondents experiencing employment discrimination based on
their gender identity.
The existence of sexual orientation employment discrimination is not benign, the
authors of the study said in their report.
The survey also found that gay men consistently earn 10% to 32% less than their
similarly qualified heterosexual counterparts.
Nevertheless, 92 percent of Fortune 500 companies now include workplace
protections based on an employees’ sexual orientation, according to the report
-– up from 51 percent in 1995.
A majority of Fortune 500 companies provide benefits to same-sex domestic
partners. Over the past year 17 companies have added the benefits bringing
the total to 267 –- or 53 percent of Fortune 500 companies.
Since Jan. 2006, the number of Fortune 500 companies that include gender
identity in their non-discrimination policies went from 78 to 125.
In 2003, only eight companies had such policies.
Attorney Larry Lorber said many businesses fear passage of ENDA will add an
additional burden on businesses already struggling to understand and comply with
federal employment laws.
Another lawyer, Mark Fahleson, expressed the concerns of some faith-based groups
that the legislation's "religious exemption" provision is overly complex.
The committee has not scheduled a vote on the bill.
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