linkIn his letter about the non-discrimination bill (Readers' Forum, March 31), Mike Knutz stated that Oregon Senate Bill 2 grants civil rights to homosexual and transgender behavior. He said, "A man donning a dress has civil rights to use the women's rest room," and later (the bill) "grants civil rights for a man to wear a dress to work with no fear of reprimand."
I would like to assure Mr. Knutz that none of these concerns are real. By definition, civil rights are the rights that all citizens of a society are supposed to have, e.g. the right to vote and to receive fair treatment under the law.
As conceived in U.S law, civil rights are set forth in the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution and by some congressional acts. In other words, behaviors cannot be granted civil rights.
Mr. Knutz also expresses concern that SB2 "restricts religious freedom" - that churches could not deny employment to homosexuals for positions like secretary and custodian. However, this is not true. There is language in the bill to allow churches and sectarian religious institutions to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation if they so desire.
I found the description of SB2 on the website of the Oregon Republican Party (www.orgop.org) easy to understand and clearly stated: "SB2 prohibits discrimination against a person based on sexual orientation. 'Sexual orientation' means an individual's actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality or gender identity regardless of whether the individual's gender identity differs from that traditionally associated with the individual's sex at birth."
