There has been a fire in the hearts of American citizens this year over the fight for equality for the LGBT community. While we have made tremendous progress and great victories, the battle for equal rights under the law is far from over. It is still legal to discriminate against Americans based on their preference. In some states, it is legal to deny basic services, such as first aid, if your religious beliefs are compromised by providing gay Americans that service.
This past week, I’ve been taking legal classes for my job because I received a promotion. I’ve been learning about sexual harassment, labor laws, and anti-discrimination. It's mainly things that everyone should know not to do. While most of the questions were common sense, one question about anti-discrimination had me stumped. In fact, I still don’t understand the answer.
The question stated “All of the following are main categories of protection under federal laws except…
a. Race
b. Sexual orientation
c. Gender/sex
d. National origin.”
After reading the question, I immediately search from an “all of the above” answer choice. America is the land of opportunity, so is it far-fetched to say that no matter who you are, no living soul has the right to discriminate against you? Why should the word “except” be placed in a question about anti-discrimination? Why is it fair and justified is that one group of citizens in our society can be forced to live in hiding or face alimentation, humiliation, and discrimination. My mind was filled with endless questions. The answer was obviously “b, sexual orientation.” That is a serious problem. We live in a country that openly accepts discrimination. We each work for businesses that have the right to terminate our co-workers because of their sexual orientation, and that person is left without legal recourse. If you are a hardworking, productive, and tax-paying American citizen, you should be protected by the government from any form of discrimination.
On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the right to marry for same-sex couples. There are still several more steps we must take to ensure total equality for the LGBT community. In fact, 31 states still do not protect LGBT citizens from discrimination in the workplace, housing, public accommodations, and education. The Equality Act is the newest piece of legislation to outlaw discrimination against LGBT citizens and give them equal protection under the law. This bill is an extension of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; therefore, United States citizens will now be free from all types of discrimination. The bill currently has 155 co-sponsors in Congress. In addition, Apple has backed the legislation with this statement to the Human Rights Campaign: “At Apple we believe in equal treatment for everyone, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they worship or who they love. We fully support the expansion of legal protections as a matter of basic human dignity.” Executives of PayPal, Twitter, and Square, have also voiced their support of the bill.
While there is immense support from the Democratic Congress of the bill, the Equality Act will still face some opposition. It is clear that America is moving towards a progressive agenda regarding equality. According to Senator Tammy Baldwin, “After a historic Supreme Court decision on marriage equality, I believe America ready, ready to take more steps forward.” We must wait to see whether or not this bill is passed, but it is a positive step in the right direction for equality.
