So excited! I found out transgendered people are protected class in my city!

[Jak of hearts]

So I only made this post because I'm so excited and wanted to share my excitement!  I recently came out as transgender publicly it hadn't in the workplace yet.  In my state (Kansas), gender identity is not a protected class.  I recently found out though that last year an equality package was passed in my city making it a protected class.  I'm elated because this means that I can come out at work without fearing losing my job.  I'm still double checking the fine print first, but I'm pretty sure it's all good to go!

[sparrow]

Sorry to rain on your parade, but it's good to have reasonable expectations.

Laws enable you to extract a pound of flesh from people who have mistreated you.  They do not prevent people from mistreating you.  You can use it as a shield, if they decide to fire you -- you can say "oh, you know that's illegal, right?" and they might back down.  Lawsuits take years and cost lots of money unless you get a great lawyer who will work pro bono.

[suzifrommd]

Sorry to rain on your parade, but it's good to have reasonable expectations.

Laws enable you to extract a pound of flesh from people who have mistreated you.  They do not prevent people from mistreating you.  You can use it as a shield, if they decide to fire you -- you can say "oh, you know that's illegal, right?" and they might back down.  Lawsuits take years and cost lots of money unless you get a great lawyer who will work pro bono.

I couldn't disagree more with this sentiment.

Human resources departments are afraid of being sued. Knowing that is a possibility makes ALL the difference. When these laws are in place HR groups know they have to tow the line.

[Dee Marshall]

I'd be more concerned that people are pushing for state laws that override local non-discrimination laws. Pay attention to politics in your state and fight tooth and nail against them if that happens in your state. Good luck and congratulations for living in a progressive city.

[Cindy Stephens]

While I agree that it is better to be someplace with a nondiscrimination law, it isn't perfect.  They just make sure that you are fired for something that isn't protected.  Women and age discrimination lawsuits in from of the EEOC have notoriously bad success rates. Most claims aren't even pushed because they have some sort of ambiguity.
The best protection is forming some sort allies group-safety in numbers.  Get the boss and coworkers on your side.  If you are liked gives you more protections than the law, IMHO.  Unfortunately, I had to find reasons to get rid of people who were protected as part of my job.  There is always a way.  Someone speaking up for you made my job much harder and maybe made the problem go away because I had someone else to blame for not getting rid of the person.  Please don't judge me, America has become a dog eat dog world and if it comes down to pushing you under the bus or me getting pushed under - see ya. 

[sparrow]

I couldn't disagree more with this sentiment.

All I'm saying is to be aware of how badly it can go.  This is how I live my life: know the risks, estimate the probability of various outcomes, and act accordingly.  I lean towards acting boldly, as that keeps life interesting.  For example, I'm going to come out the moment I'm made a permanent employee.  Until then, I'm a lowly contractor and they can passively "fire" me by not renewing my contract. 

As Cindy says, there are a billion reasons to fire an employee.  Employees lacking in privilege have to work harder and keep their noses cleaner than their white male counterparts, to keep HR from finding one of those billion reasons.  This is just the way of the world.

[RobynD]

I can say this from experience, working in management and being close to HR departments for hiring etc. In i think 4/5 of cases that i am recalling relating to discrimination, the companies produced a cash settlement, rather than continuing to litigate the matters.  The drain/costs on the company of litigation usually far outweigh the costs of treating people right.

Anti-discrimination laws and ordinances are always a positive.