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Final Blog Post: LGBT, and the Laws that Protect Them

As some of you may know, there are many individuals discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The courts and the United States in whole have come along way to try to provide fundamental rights to the LGBT community. As seen in the Supreme Court case, Obergefell v. Hodges, ruling in a  6-4 vote to allow same sex marriage nationwide (Obergefell). What some deem a historic day for gay rights advocates as it established a new civil right.

To me, this is just scratching the surface. The 14th amendment grants all citizens born or naturalized in the United States from being denied “life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law.” The United States is founded on ideas such as freedom of speech, freedom of association, religion, liberty, equal treatment, the list goes on. And yet, the LGBT community is marginalized. Members of this group are subject to discrimination in mainstream society due to prejudices rooted in beliefs and traditions about sexuality and gender. LGBT people are suffering from various forms of socioeconomic and cultural injustices. That deprive them their rights as citizens of the United States of America. Lesbians, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are more likely to experience intolerance, discrimination, harassment and the threat of violence due to their sexual orientation.

Some policy makers refuse to see that there is an actual problem, that there is in fact a need to pass laws that protect gay and transgender workers from things such as workplace discrimination. Its very much so the case of, “You dont realize what you have, until its gone,” and what they have is mainstream hetero-normative ideas the notion that nothings really wrong, they are just another social minority group wanting recognition.

 

Sure the Constitutions, Equal Protection Clause does not protect a citizen on the bases of sexual discrimination, but it should be implemented or addressed nationwide. LGBT rights struggles to find universal acceptance, the fact that the Universal Declaration of Human rights, drafted in 1948, does not specifically include sexual orientation allows some people to consider LGBT rights debatable (Universal). That should never be the case everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration established by our founders.

The revisions to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a proud acknowledgement that protection is needed on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. As this act prohibits discrimination of the basis of race, religion, national origin, and sex in both the state and private level. However, EEOC rulings are not binding on private employers and federal courts may rule differently, but its a start non the less.

Reference:

Bendery, J. (n.d.). It Is Now Illegal For A Federal Contractor To Fire Someone For

Being LGBT. Retrieved December 13, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/08/lgbt-job-discrimination-federal-contractors_n_7025564.html

Calfas, J. (2015, August 1). Employment discrimination: The next frontier for LGBT  community. Retrieved December 13, 2015, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/31/employment-discrimination-lgbt-community-next-frontier/29635379

37 Shocking LGBT Discrimination Statistics – BrandonGaille.com. (n.d.). Retrieved December  16, 2015, from http://brandongaille.com/37-shocking-lgbt-discrimination-statistics

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations. (n.d.). Retrieved December 16, 2015, from http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
Obergefell v. Hodges. (n.d.). Retrieved December 16, 2015, from http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf

 

 

 

LGBT; Sexual Stigma and Gender Identity

When it comes down to it, the essence of the LGBT movement is about everyday individuals wanting the same chance as everyone else. Whether it’s the ability to earn a living, be safe in one’s community, serving ones country or the biggest thing of all; being with the one you love.

Picture source: http://d35brb9zkkbdsd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Employment-Discrimination-Maps.png

Basic fundamental opportunities everyone should have, and yet they are halted if not stalled. On a federal level companies that have contracts with the government are now prohibited from firing or discriminating against employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity due to an executive order President Obama signed in June of 2014 (Bendery). However, 33 of the 50 states have no state-level gender identity protection, this meaning in over half of the U.S it is perfectly legal for employers to fire employees based solely on their gender identity.  Nor is there a state-level protection for sexual orientation in 29 of the 50 US states. The overhauling idea that merit is null void if they happen to find your gender identity (i.e., transgender) or sexual orientation (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual) to be that of conflicting alignment.

In some ways it’s quite flattering to think that what someone does in the privacy of their bedroom carries so much weight in the public sphere. And yet one must ask the question, why does it in fact carry so much weight?

Genderbread-Person-3.3

Source: http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2015/03/the-genderbread-person-v3/

Prevailing argument is that sexual preference shouldn’t in any way be a derisive point in anything but one’s personal choices and can ONLY ever be useful in the dividing of groups which would otherwise agree. Gender identity, not unlike racial segregation and class separation, are not a political statement but a personal one, one which should be treated with the same involvement other people take in when choosing to have breakfast or not.

In June of 2015, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision allowed the right to same sex marriage. Stating “No union more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a martial union, two people become something greater than they once were.Marriage is a “keystone of our social order..”

My personal favorite part..

“adding, that the plaintiffs in the case were seeking “equal dignity in the eyes of the law”.

 

Questions:

1. Justice Kennedy stated that the plaintiffs in this case were seeking “equal dignity in the eyes of the law.” What does that mean to you?

2. Should individuals in the LGBT communities right and protections be intrinsic?

3. If the federal government can ban workplace discrimination against LGBT employees of federal contractors and the federal government, why don’t all the states follow suit?

 

Sources:

Bendery, J. (n.d.). It Is Now Illegal For A Federal Contractor To Fire Someone For Being LGBT. Retrieved October 21, 2015.

Deena Fidas and Liz Cooper, The Cost of the Closet and the Rewards of Inclusion: Why the Workplace Environment for LGBT People Matters to Employees, Human Rights Campaign (May 2015): p. 4-5.

Deena Fidas and Liz Cooper, The Cost of the Closet and the Rewards of Inclusion: Why the Workplace Environment for LGBT People Matters to Employees, Human Rights Campaign (May 2015): p. 4-5.

Liptak, A. (2015, June 26). Supreme Court Ruling Makes Same-Sex Marriage a Right Nationwide. Retrieved October 20, 2015.