Atlanta.CreativeLoafing.com – By Cliff Bostock
Gender bias sweeps the gay punditocracy
It never fails that whenever the subject of civil rights protections for gay people comes up, opponents start griping about “special rights.” A surprising number of people think it’s already illegal to discriminate against gay people in the workplace, for example.
In fact, it’s legal for employers to fire someone for being gay in 31 states. And transgender people, those with gender-identity differences, have even less workplace protection.
At this writing, a historic piece of federal legislation that would change that was due a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives within a week. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act has been around in one form or another since 1974 and, thanks largely to the work of Rep. Barney Frank, was finally due a vote earlier this month.