On Nov. 7, the United States Senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act by a margin of 64-32. This bill bans discrimination against employees and potential employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. This sounds agreeable enough, doesn’t it?
Although this legislation is obviously overdue, political commentators speculate that this bill will likely not pass the Republican controlled House of Representatives.
Maybe this is just me, but at this point I am simply unable to empathize with individuals who cannot support the statement: people should not be discriminated against, let alone denied a job, based on their sexual orientation.
Is this really so much to ask? Many gay people in the United States are still unable to be legally married in their respective states. Is there really anyone who believes that millions of Americans should also not be able to get a job in this economy because of who they have sex with?
People who disagree with this legislation would likely dismiss this as a loaded question. They would likely adopt a stance similar to the rightfully overturned “don’t ask don’t tell” policy. These people would probably assert that as long as the employee’s sexuality is not apparent, there would be no necessity for discrimination.
What this assertion clearly overlooks is that a persons gender identity is an indispensable part of who they are; it is both unreasonable and dehumanizing to require people to leave aspects of ones life such as this at the door, especially to satisfy the standards of some intolerant employer.
Do the lawmakers who oppose this legislation really value the right of an employer to fire a worker due to his or her sexuality more than the right of a gay or transsexual person to be subjected to the same considerations for a job as a straight person? Is this their way of discouraging homosexuality threatening job security? Or are they just voting along party lines?
It’s hard to tell, House Speaker Boehner indicated to Michael Steel, his press secretary, that this bill, “will increase frivolous litigation and cost American jobs, especially small business jobs.”
First of all, this bill only applies to businesses with 15 or more employees —this disqualifies 90 percent of all small businesses. Furthermore, suggesting that discrimination which leads to the end of someone’s career is frivolous is borderline delusional.
There is no good reason why this bill should not pass the house, but in all honesty, I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t. In any case, its only a matter of time until questions about rights such as these will be a thing of the past.
