Job discrimination bill ignites latest skirmish over gay rights
By Rob Hotakainen | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Michael Carney, a gay cop in Massachusetts, figures there’s one reason he got his job back: The state makes it illegal to discriminate against employees because of sexual orientation.
But in 31 states, including Missouri and Kansas, employees have no such legal protection. Carney, who left his job when he was struggling as a closeted gay and then was reinstated after a long legal battle, hopes that will change. He’s urging Congress to pass a federal law called the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, which would put bias involving sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace on the same legal footing as discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age and disability.
With a vote expected in the House of Representatives in the next month, the latest twist over gay rights is setting off a skirmish on Capitol Hill.
The Traditional Values Coalition is lobbying against the bill, saying it would make “homosexuality and gender confusion” a protected class and “describes how employers are to treat cross-dressers, drag queens and transsexuals.”
On the other side is Missouri Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Methodist minister from Kansas City and one of the bill’s 165 co-sponsors. Testifying at a hearing earlier this month, he said he listens to religious radio almost every day, and he’s familiar with the arguments.
“No one has yet explained," he said, "how keeping someone from gaining equal consideration based on their individual skill set to obtain lawful employment pleases God.”
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