Who Cares About LGBT Workers?

[Shana A]

Darren Hutchinson
Who Cares About LGBT Workers?
Posted: 7/31/11 03:23 PM ET

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/darren-hutchinson/who-cares-about-lgbt-work_b_914122.html

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act would prohibit employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. ENDA has been introduced in Congress multiple times, but it has never passed. While federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, race, and other categories, it does not address sexual orientation or gender identity. Furthermore, only a handful of state laws prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. In most states, such discrimination is perfectly legal.

Although LGBT workers remain vulnerable to discrimination across the nation, ENDA has not received much attention from the media and from many groups that advocate for LGBT rights. Instead, same-sex marriage and the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell have occupied most of the recent headlines and have dominated the contemporary advocacy of many LGBT social movement organizations.