Sexual Orientation, unfortunately, does not have explicit federal protections from all forms of discrimination. Though there are state-level protections, and there are a couple of cases that will be heard at the Supreme Court this year that claim otherwise (we'll see if those pan out).
On a federal level yes, but many states (including New York and California) have protection against sexual orientation. I'm surprised to learn that political affiliation is not protected.
Sexuality is only a protected class in some states, and sexuality isn't a protected class at the federal level.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of places in the US where one can experience legal discrimination based on their sexuality in housing, employment, education, health insurance and healthcare. There are several maps here[1] that show where those places are. Many of them don't classify violence motivated by the victims' sexuality as hate crimes, either. There's also a table here[1] that summarizes the discrepancies in the US.
The issue is that there are specific protections for things like age, race and religion, but not sexual orientation. I consider orientation, like race, to be something that you are born with that deserves the same protections.
Even if homophobes are just as present, blue states have a more accommodating legal framework to prosecute them.
LGBT persons are not a protected class at the federal level: look at a map of states that include it as a protected class, and nearly all the states that don't include it are red. http://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps/non_discrimination_laws
Yeah I suppose the laws currently being passed in dozens of states across the country are actually fully in support of LGBTQ+ communities and aren't in fact discrimination.
That’s precisely the Supreme Court case I was referring to. The fact that the laws are still on the books in many states is certainly an indicator the priority those state governments give to protecting LGBT rights.
Your link does not necessarily refute the post you're replying to. Gay people are not a protected group under Federal law; nor, AIUI, are they in most states.
However, I live in the midwest (Indiana) where we do not have similar protections over things as basic as sexual identity. It really is that backwards here.
I mean that there's a building legal recognition that laws against sex discrimination are incompatible with laws that discriminate against sexual orientation or gender identification. I did not mean that every single person on earth is aware of being at the start of a personal change.
You say that like LGBT individuals don't continue to face legal challenges at the state level [1], or the threat of reduced protections at the federal level [2].
Anyway, the answer is no, because the discussion is about the impact of denigrating political stances on individuals generally. My example is one of many illustrating the importance of a greater principle: a workplace that supports the parties that work to forward such legislation supports the dehumanization of individuals. That is intolerable.
When human dignity hangs in the balance, politics matter.
reply