I need help understanding this.

[KarlMars]

I hear that in my state and others it's legal to discriminate against people who are LGBT, such as firing them or throwing them out of their apartment. On the other hand I also hear that the law from the 60s that made discrimination against gender and race illegal also covers LGBT people too. Please explain this to me.

[Dena]

Your understanding of the law is incorrect. LGBT hasn't been on the radar of the government until recently. The 1960 law refers to race and the primary point of the law was for the black race but others were included. In the 70's and 80's I may have lost two jobs as the result of my gender status but there was no point it fighting it because the law wasn't on my side. Even today, we don't have full protection as the bathroom bills would be a violation of our rights. In some of the bathroom bills, I would have to use the mens bathroom because my birth certificate hasn't been updated but yet I had surgery in 1982.

[KarlMars]

Your understanding of the law is incorrect. LGBT hasn't been on the radar of the government until recently. The 1960 law refers to race and the primary point of the law was for the black race but others were included. In the 70's and 80's I may have lost two jobs as the result of my gender status but there was no point it fighting it because the law wasn't on my side. Even today, we don't have full protection as the bathroom bills would be a violation of our rights. In some of the bathroom bills, I would have to use the mens bathroom because my birth certificate hasn't been updated but yet I had surgery in 1982.

Thanks for clearing that up. I have just read various articles stating that both are true and I guess the people commenting don't always know the law either. It confused me.

[Lady Sarah]

In some places, one may be terminated from employment, denied access to certain places, etc... because one may "make others uncomfortable". You may wish to check your local statutes.

After my orchiectomy, I got all my documents legally changed through the courts. There have been a few that thought my 5' 10" height made them uncomfortable ... but that was un-actionable.

As for employment, the State of Texas has a statute that dictates that employers do not have to give an explanation for termination.