The LGBT Community: The Need for an Anti-Discrimination Bill

Majority of transgender people will face some sort of discrimination in their lifetime whether it is through being rejected by their families, denied housing or finding employment. “Employment discrimination forces many to become involved in the street economy and in survival crime. Widespread bias and ignorance among law enforcement and other officials mean that transgender people are disproportionately subjected to arrest and, in turn, imprisonment.” (al, 2011)

Since the beginning of their existence and in today’s society, the community of LGBT workers are not being treated fairly or getting their fair share that they deserve in the workplace. They are victims to high rates of workplace discrimination. Instead of being judged as workers and what they bring to their jobs and how they work, they are being judged by their sexual preferences and appearance. Being a gay or transgender worker causes them to be mistreated, not judged for the actual workers they are, and most importantly, halts a majority of them in better career and job opportunities. Although under federal law it is illegal to fire someone who is either gay or transgender, they are still either being denied employment or being terminated from their jobs because of their gender category or sexual orientation.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is legislation proposed in the United States Congress from the mid 1990’s and finally became law in 2013. This law prohibits discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity by employers with at least 15 employees. Those which favored the law intend it to address cases where gay, lesbian, and bisexual and transgender (GLBT) employees have been discriminated against by their employers because of their sexual orientation of gender identity (Raghavan,2013). Employees were not able to find protection under the law and not seen as a suspect class by the federal courts and appropriate as the United States Constitution guarantees equal protection and due process to all (Wiki, 2013) Those who favored the law firmly believe that people should be judged by their work and not by unrelated factors. Not everyone say the law as necessary and voted against it (Raghavan, 2013).

The LGBTQ community consists of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer. This diverse group is united based on their shared history of discrimination based on their breaking the norm of heterosexuality. The groups within this community, while vary in experiences, are able to maintain some amount of solidarity by agreeing on the importance of advocating for rights to better the safety of the LGBTQ people. Throughout history prejudice people who look down upon those with differing sexual orientations have bullied, harassed, raped and murdered people from all the categories of the LGBTQ community. It was not until 2009 where President Barrack Obama signed a law that has made it a federal crime to assault someone based on

Homosexual people are not seen by other people such as, straights; in addition, society's ideas treat them differently in marriages, workplaces and makes them have unequal partnership benefits.

Throughout history, there have been many cases of injustice and discrimination both around the world and in the United States specifically. There has been oppression of and discrimination against differing ethnic groups, women, and now, individuals with a different sexual orientation than what can be seen as normal. While the rights of these groups have improved significantly, discrimination still occurs. However, discrimination against them is still less rampant than the discrimination against people who identify as homosexuals and other similar sexual orientations. Since we, as a society, have made extensive leaps and bounds regarding similar social issues, we can and must make similar strides regarding societal views of sexual orientation.

Approximately four weeks ago, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history occurred not to far from UCF. Patrons of Pulse nightclub, a gay nightclub in Orlando where massacred by Omar Mateen, Mateen took the lives of forty-nine individuals all because of their presence in a gay establishment. This tragic incident wasn’t the first attack on the LGBT community, but it’s massive fatalities put Congress under even more pressure to reform gun laws, gay rights, and suspected terrorist legislation. As a political Science major, I take a special interest in the reactions among legislators after the Orlando incident and believe there should be more equal protection for gay people under the law. The two articles I will be analyzing, After Orlando, a Political Divide on Gay Rights Still Stands and Gay rights and wrongs: How the Orlando massacre affects the fight for LGBT rights furthers the discourse among the divide in Congress over gay rights.

Although the Supreme Court brought marriage equality to all 50 states, there is still no fully-inclusive non-discrimination law to protect the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. The lack of such a law allows doctors to refuse medical care to a newborn because the parents are a same-sex couple, realtors to deny housing to a transgender person, employers to fire someone for just being LGBT, and many more examples. The absence of a law sparks outrage because nearly two thirds of the LGBT population has been personally discriminated against. Although there are several supporters of a non-discrimination law, there are many opponents trying to prevent the enactment of such a law because they believe it to be unconstitutional

In Transgender Students and Bathrooms the author Mike Kennedy, found evidence of students who have fought due to being treated unequally because they identify themselves as transgender. “The Maine Supreme Court ruled that the Regional School Unit 26 violated the rights of a transgendered girl after the policy was reversed when she reached the middle school age, where they banned her from using the girls’ restroom”(19). Many times, a problem that transgender Americans face within our society is being accepted in one place of establishment, but not in another. While there are quite a few places who have made an effort to help those who are transgender, there are many places who refuse to do so. Our nation is split on how to handle those who are transgender, but it is clear that it is not

Due to the lack of legal protection, transgender people participating in “The National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS) found that 15 percent of respondents were living in severe poverty…For transgender people of color, those rates are even higher” (HRC 3). For the simple reason that transgender people lack legal protection, they are more likely to become unemployed and homeless. This is a case of social injustice because it is unfair for the government to not include any “non-discrimination law that includes gender identity.” In addition to that lack of gender identity laws, according to the 2014 State Equality Index, “Only 18 states and the district of Columbia prohibit employment and housing discrimination based on gender identity” (HRC 3). The lack of states that prohibit employment and housing discrimination is the cause of social injustice. Without the majority of the states participating in this, part of the transgender community would always be in poverty with is unfair treatment towards this group of

Important bills like Proposition 8 in California, Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) until now when Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) was being proposed. However, nothing federally has been successful. The article also addresses how the state laws can be confusing, vague, and unclear when it comes to LGBT employment protections. The article talks about how not having non-discrimination laws can have impacts on LGBT people mental, emotional, financial, and physical health. This is important article because it looks at federal level policies and laws that have affected LGBT people both good and

“According to a 2015 report issued by the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), the NCTE, the Transgender Law Center, and GLAAD, 78 percent of transgender and gender-nonconforming employees experience harassment, mistreatment, or discrimination at work”(“Transgender Rights”).

On March 23, North Carolina passed the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, commonly referred to as HB2. The new legislation mandates that students in North Carolina state schools use the bathroom that corresponds with the sex listed on their birth certificate. Although North Carolina is currently making headlines, it is not the only state has passed anti-LGBT legislation. In fact, there have been almost 200 anti-LGBT bills introduced in other states since January. Opponents criticize HB2 for excluding gay and transgender people from privacy and legal protections. As a result, North Carolina has received major backlash across the board from citizens of the state, officials of other states, and large corporations such as PayPal.

There are states that prohibit discrimination against transgender people. California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia all try to protect transgenders. Their protections vary. For example, Nevada’s law bans discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations like restaurants, hospitals, and retail stores; Maine’s law covers those categories plus access to credit and education. Most sexual orientation discrimination bans protect people not only based on their actual sexual orientation, but also on the basis of how people perceive them. This means that in most places where sexual

Transgenders persevere through high rates of employment injustice and harassment at work. In a current national survey, an astonishing 90 % of transgender individuals depicted some harassment or abuse on the job. Approximately half of transgender individuals also describe experiencing an adverse employment result due to their gender identity. This entails being disregarded for employment (44 %), getting terminated (26 %), and being denied a promotion (23 %).