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sparkindarknessThe USA is holding hearings about a law that will protect GBLT people from discrimination in employment (ENDA)
I am deeply thankful that the UK has laws (albeit not necessarily very effective and certainly not very clear) that protect me against discrimination because of my sexuality. I cannot be fired, evicted or otherwise denied access to goods, services or the necessity of life. The fear that the very underpinnings of your life, the very necessities for surviving and thriving, can be denied you because of bigotry is a very real and very terrifying one.
Laws are not perfect - not by any stretch. A bigoted employer can and will work to make life intolerable for you anyway and the law is often an imperfect shield to such hate. But they are a shield. They can and do protect you when we need SOME protection, even if the shield feels flimsy at times. And it is an important message - a message which, as I say time and time again, is vital. Government and the powers that be MUST send a message that discriminating against GBLT people, harming us, othering us or treating us as less is WRONG. That is a vital message in today’s society where it is all too common that the opposite is broadcast at extreme volume and with deadly clarity.
So, yes, America having these hearings is an extremely good thing.
But I have to have a brief boggle at the witnesses for the hearing.
7 witnesses. 6 of which are straight. 1 of which is gay.
A hearing about how discrimination affects GBLT people and how it needs to be fixed/how it can be fixed and you only have 1 gay man - no lesbians, no bisexuals and no transpeople? But 6 heterosexuals?
At least hearings are being held, and that’s a good thing and I have high hopes for it. But it could be better, oh yes.
I am deeply thankful that the UK has laws (albeit not necessarily very effective and certainly not very clear) that protect me against discrimination because of my sexuality. I cannot be fired, evicted or otherwise denied access to goods, services or the necessity of life. The fear that the very underpinnings of your life, the very necessities for surviving and thriving, can be denied you because of bigotry is a very real and very terrifying one.
Laws are not perfect - not by any stretch. A bigoted employer can and will work to make life intolerable for you anyway and the law is often an imperfect shield to such hate. But they are a shield. They can and do protect you when we need SOME protection, even if the shield feels flimsy at times. And it is an important message - a message which, as I say time and time again, is vital. Government and the powers that be MUST send a message that discriminating against GBLT people, harming us, othering us or treating us as less is WRONG. That is a vital message in today’s society where it is all too common that the opposite is broadcast at extreme volume and with deadly clarity.
So, yes, America having these hearings is an extremely good thing.
But I have to have a brief boggle at the witnesses for the hearing.
7 witnesses. 6 of which are straight. 1 of which is gay.
A hearing about how discrimination affects GBLT people and how it needs to be fixed/how it can be fixed and you only have 1 gay man - no lesbians, no bisexuals and no transpeople? But 6 heterosexuals?
At least hearings are being held, and that’s a good thing and I have high hopes for it. But it could be better, oh yes.