Three Laws to Protect Americans from Sexual Discrimination

Everyday, children in this country are bullied because a fellow student doesn't like that they may be gay. Too often these bullying tactics -- including several already this year -- result in suicide and the sad loss of life of a completely innocent victim.

In addition to biased-generated bullying done in our schools and playgrounds, too many children and adults are victims of serious hate crimes. They are beaten and brutalized not just because they are gay, but because of the color of their skin or their gender. With no law to prosecute violence based on bias, the federal government is limited in what it can do to punish these horrible perpetrators.

And everyday, hundreds of thousands of American workers are afraid to be themselves, to be proud of who they are in the workplace because they know their God-given natural sexuality could cause dismissal, demotion or other workplace discrimination.

For years, politicians in Congress have given us excuses. To the children who are being hurt or the workers who are afraid to show up to do the job they were hired to do, they can't afford your excuses anymore.

Nor can I.

There are three critically important pieces of legislation that should pass Congress and move to the president's desk immediately. You were elected on a promise to help people -- to make a difference in people's lives. Because discrimination is unacceptable, you should move forward now to pass the Safe Schools Improvement Act, the National Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

The children and workers in this country need you to protect them on the playground and in the workplace -- to allow them to live their lives without fear of getting physically or emotionally hurt -- to allow them to make a living and pay taxes like any other American worker.

With strong Democratic Majorities in the House and Senate, the three proposed laws I've mentioned above should be passed easily -- before one more life is lost, before one more hard-working American unjustly loses his or her job.

And one more thing, you won't have done a complete job if you leave out transgendered Americans. They are people too who deserve all the same rights and protections afforded to any other American.

No more excuses. Get these laws passed now and show us that you are willing to fight for these very people who so desperately need your help.

Comments

[oafishcad]

Here's what I'm hearing from the rabble rousers. Whys should gay people at every stage of their lives not be tormented? It's no big deal. Then they whine that Christians are mistreated. Wasn't it Christ who said "do unto others as you would have others do unto you"? I guess they think Christ was wrong. No, I know they think Christ was wrong. Please don't say Christians are being abused. They aren't Christians. Christians follow Christ.

[Intelligentia]

Gays discrimiinate against others more than any group that I know of. Stop the discrimination within your own gay community against others before you can expect others to support your cause. How do White gays treat non-White gays in your community. You are no different when it comes to discrimination, so I could care less about your cause when you are doing the exact same thing!

[diogenes1967]

Yeah, how do you treat the gays within you community?

The hyppocrisy concerning this never ceases to amaze me.

[jstephenclark]

This "white gays are racist" rhetoric is pathetic. This fiction is nothing but a tactic that attempts to make gay anger with Obama some kind of race issue. It is juvenile race-baiting and is laughable.

[oafishcad]

It's interesting to hear all the former and current bullies saying how unfair it is to defend gay kids. Or gay workers in the workplace.

[Mnemanth]

Equal rights- and just that- for everyone. What's so darn hard? How in the world, in a civilized society, is this such a difficult concept?
Sending a big old collective "Slap!" to the faces of any elected representative of the people anywhere in our country who can't simply understand that we're all equal!

Mr. Hildebrand- sorry, guy, but really: who came up with that inflated title for you?

[jhamm1]

Personally, I would like to know exactly which work-places the author is referring to, considering that the vast majority of places of employment enact measures in which the slightest instigation of verbal or sexual harrassment, let alone physical assault, serve as grounds for immediate discharge.

That said, I believe that all forms of bullying at school need to be met with stiffer zero-tolerance policies, and the author neglects to mention the numerous students, merely subject to bullying without regard to race, religion, or sexual orientation, are likewise driven to suicide on account of their incessant torment.

[JohnJames]

Obviously you've never held a blue-collar job. I have - both in construction and as a truck driver. I'm masculine so I blended in but, as a gay man, I constantly had to remain aloof (not great for advancement) - always ready with an excuse why I couldn't go to a bar after work or attend a party, knowing I'd risk being cornered with the usual talk and questions about women. I'd have been fired in no time if I hadn't engaged in that deception and had been honest about myself.

[aj88]

JohnJames-
Don't be so locked in to what you assume will be someone's perception. If your co-workers enjoyed your company enough to ask you to join, they would most likely not care about your sexual preference. If they did have an issue with it then there are not the type of people you would want to have around anyway.

[Mnemanth]

I'm amazed everyday when I go to work at my local sports store (part time, pays for bike tires...) and get to listen to the "general manager" assign cleaning jobs to the girls, because that's "women's work".
Sorry, but there's some folks out there still living a couple centuries in the past.

[Gidster]

Religion fosters fairly rigid gender roles. In Fundamental Christianity, women are little more than property, told to "Cleave" to their husbands obey and subdue oneself to his wishes. They are taught form childhood that gays are "Abominations" so it is OK to openly hate them and treat them as such, because their "Faith" dictates it.

Girls and boys are taught this is the way it is their whole lives.

To a lesser degree this is the way most Americans view gender roles and homosexuals.

It's the religion.......

[oafishcad]

What a crock. People are fired every day for being gay when bosses find out. Every single day.

[jhamm1]

When the hell did I mention anything about being fired for discrimination?

[daffey]

JohnJames may be right. My wife and I are both experienced in the white collar world, and in that world there are celebrations of all things sexually open, while typically little if any leeway given toward open religious expression (at a job I had years ago, we were ordered - momentarily - to take down any images of religious expression, including all family photos - since not all people have families and not all define families a certain way). It was rebelled against by the workers (especially the whole family photo thing), and the rule was relaxed. But at the very same time copious amounts of bulletins were coming our way informing us that the slightest dig against someone over race, gender, sexual orientation, or anything 'physical' would result in immediate discipline and almost certain termination (religious harassment I remember being suspiciously from the list). But again, that was our white collar environments, not a blue collar one.

But your point about bullying is right. According to studies, sexual orientation is well below things like weight, appearance, dress, and size for the reasons behind most bullying (with just being different also one of the top reasons).

[jstephenclark]

But sexual orientation is WAY AHEAD of every other characteristic in terms of school administrators not only ignoring the bullying but even encouraging or participating in it. The biggest evil that anti-bullying legislation targets is not the underage bullies but the adult enablers and collaborators who purport to run the schools.

[hoosier96]

Gays want same sex marriage legalized. That is what they are screaming for.

And all Obama is doing is trying to appease without really doing anything.

[PlaceboStudman]

it's more than marriage equality. We need the discrimination removed by repealing DADT completely, we need ENDA passed, and UAFA passed as well as DOMA and hate crimes

[JohnJames]

Umm, not quite. What we're "screaming" for (as you put it) is for Obama to live up to his end of the bargain - his explicit promises to gay Americans during the campaign to work to real DOMA and DADT, pass ENDA, and get sexual orientation included in existing federal hate crime law, among other pledges he made. Federal recognition of same-sex marriage has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. You don't know what you're talking about.

[aj88]

The writer states that hundreds of thousands of workers are afraid to be themselves....Why on Earth does one need to go to work and proclaim their sexuality? Why would any individual need to state, at work, who they are having sex with? How many heterosexual couples go to the office and feel it's proper to have a conversation with their co-workers about their sexual preferences? Give me a break, do your job at the office and sleep with who ever you want when you punch out.

[PlaceboStudman]

You never sit around with the guys during lunch and talk about what you did with your wife or girlfriend over the weekend? You have never, ever come in on a monday morning and bragged about how great the sex was the night before? You've never ever talked about how hot so-and-so is who works down the hall? Those are the kinds of conversations that a lot of heterosexual men have on a daily basis in some companies, which an LGBT can get fired for. Not to mention bringing their same gender spouse to the company picnic or christmas party. If you have a problem with an LGBT living an honest open life with integrity, then it is YOUR problem. But you have no right to deny anyone else the ability to live an honest open life of integrity in their workplace or anywhere

[aj88]

PlaceboStudman-
I do not recall stating anything about "denying an LGBT an honest open life" My point is perhaps people should actually go to work and perform their duties, and on their own private time engage in any conversations about sexual preferences. Maybe you wish to engage co-workers on whom you have sex with but I have always elected to use discretion and share intimate things with friends and family. Sexual dalliances are not part of productive workplaces. There is nothing wrong with bringing a same-sex partner to an office party or picnic, in fact, none of the other employees would even know for certain of the relationship unless you felt the need to announce that you were having sex with your guest. So back to my original point, go to work and do your job.

[been2there]

All of this talk is sexually uncomfortable and can be considered harrassment in the workplace.

[chaya]

I'm sorry, but your comments are naive. People don't get in trouble at work because they proclaim their sexuality. They get in trouble because who you are inevitably comes out. It's actually completely impossible to hide. The only real way to hide is by pretending to be straight: marrying and having children. But even one who has successfully hidden his gayness for many years--at great, painful cost to himself and his spouse and children--will still be "discovered" on some ugly, terrifying day. And then it will all be over: kiss your career goodbye.

[been2there]

NO. Being judged gay can be enough to make work unsafe.

[Burnsey]

I guess you have never heard your straight co-workers refer to their Husband or Wife, or refer to their Children, or fiancee and all that other stuff that has nothing to do with the sexual activity but that clearly states the sexual orientation of the heterosexual speaker. That seems to be ok with you, but then you don't think a gay person has the same right to openly talk about their same sex spouse, or the children their same sex partner and they have. You do not see the insidious day in and day out expression of heterosexuality at the workplace. Pictures of spouses, children and discussions about expecting a baby, baby showers at work, wedding showers at work, all that includes a specification of the persons sexuality.

[been2there]

aj88, coworkers may decide based on what they perceive. A tall, big-framed woman is often seen as "butch", regardless of her orientation. With a Master's degree in science, I too am seen as butch, and my private life never gets into my discussions.

[Giordano Bruno]

Has anybody seen the movie Bruno with Shirley MacLaine as the grandmother of a cross dressing spelling bee champion. It is great. Giordy

[daffey]

Oh, and because they are religious. Don’t forget that. My kids asked me if they had to pray before lunch at school since they were routinely made fun of an picked on for doing it. I told them they could do it silently if they didn’t want to be bullied about. I also told them to accept it, since bullying is around, always has been, and always will be. You can’t spend your life being scared to be yourself because of bullies. Right now, religion can pretty much be kicked around rather loosely and nobody cares, especially if it’s religion that hasn’t gotten its mind right. Bully someone because of race or sexuality and you’ll be crushed by the weight of societal indignation in a fast heartbeat. Things change. It probably would have been different 50 years ago, and will probably be different 50 years from now. And I told them it won’t stop at after school. After all, my wife’s workplace, that had a celebration of gay pride a couple months ago, recently closed down a bible and prayer time on its campus. So my kids can hide it under a bushel until society wobbles again, or be themselves.

[PlaceboStudman]

Religion is a choice, unlike race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. It is not a crime to criticize someone for the choices they make. It is a crime to commit violence based on criticism of an immutable characteristic. Now, if one of your children are physically harmed because they express their religion that is a crime. It is the level of bullying that matters. And that level begins with educating our children to not criticize others for their differences which may lead to violence later in life which would be a hate crime

[daffey]

Then bullying, as long as it doesn't involve violence, should be ignored? No one says we should allow violence against others for any reason. But if they can be made fun of for a 'choice', they can be made fun of period (a subtle form of the modern ‘discrimination based on ideology’). Once you start drawing a line and saying 'it's OK to make fun of them the believe this', as opposed to making fun of someone because of their weight (the number one cause of bullying) or other physical characteristic, then you are giving tacit approval to bullying, as long as its for the 'right' reasons.

[JohnJames]

Right. Poor persecuted Christian. Religion, unlike race or sexual orientation, is an adopted belief. Saying my intolerance is justified because my god tells me so just doesn't cut it (or shouldn't) and that's the reputation many of the most vociferous Christians have earned for themselves - intolerant self-righteous bigots who hide behind the mantle of God. At any rate, you're totally delusional if you think the weight of societal indignation comes down on anti-gay haters. Far from it. Furthermore, it's illegal to discriminate in employment based on religion in all fifty states. It's legal to do so on the basis of sexual orientation in thirty, thanks to the efforts of the poor persecuted "Christians". Religion is also included in existing federal hate crime law. Sexual orientation is not.

[daffey]

Ah yes, the 'it's not wrong to hate, it's just wrong to hate the wrong people' ethic that is making post-modern liberalism just so darn hip. Please, let me know who else it's OK to hate. You seem to have the answers. I'll let my kids know you send them your best.

[JosephHill]

I don't believe that Christians are particularly persecuted; after all, they are members of a dominant religious majority in our society. I also don't believe it's all right to discriminate against Christians or ANY group simply because they CHOOSE to be a member of a particular group.

BTW, I wish people would stop justifying a sexual orientation by claiming it's genetic...that they were "born that way" and "can't help it". I say this as a gay man who believes that sexual orientation should be treated as a "freedom of conscience" issue.

No one has proved one way or another whether sexual orientation is a matter of genetics or of nurture or of some combination of the two. My right to live as a gay man with all the same rights and privileges as a heterosexual should NOT hinge on whether I was "born that way" or if I simply "decided" on a whim to express my sexuality with another person of the same gender. I'm proud to be gay, and I wouldn't want to change. It's who I am, whether I was born this way or chose to be this way.

Being gay is a GIFT--a gift for which I am grateful.

[athenap]

Do not confuse lack of privilege with full on discrimination. And if you told your kids to just accept bullying--for whatever reason--then shame on you.

[daffey]

I told them to stand for their convictions in the face of bullying. You know, don’t whine and cry and act like wimps - the modern approach to problem solving.

[JusticeDemon]

Why can't you understand that your freedom to practice religion is guaranteed in the Constitution, but that doesn't mean anyone else has to listen to you! Our freedom to marry and be recognized by the government as full citizens is also guaranteed in the Constitution BUT YOU WON'T LET US out of some weird obsession with homophobia.

Kids are cruel and they will pick on others for ANY reason. If your kids weren't praying at the lunch table, it would be something else. Bullying in general needs to be dealt with appropriately by the schools. That's why I'm not pushing a radical Gay Rights Anti-Bullying measure like the Obama administration seems to want now. Instead I'm saying BOO FREAKIN' HOO.

If your religion is going to continue to base itself around homophobia then yes, we're going to do everything we can to shut you out of the public sphere. If being anti-gay is an integral part of your religion, then that's just as bad as white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

[Gidster]

Just as our rights to not practice a religion, or have one forced upon us were guaranteed in the same document!

[MrRoboto]

The trouble in all of this back and forth in response to daffey is that crimes targeting the religious are already codified in law as hate crimes. If daffey's children are being targeted for abuse simply because they want to pray before eating their lunch, then daffey needs to get in touch with school authorities immediately and put a stop to it, or daffey needs to contact a good lawyer. I don't care if your children's religious beliefs are chosen or not. If they are being bullied because of them, they don't just need to suck it up and live with it, or "hide it under a bushel." They're being abused and it needs to stop.

[PlaceboStudman]

Here's the thing. Hate crimes legislation that punishes a perpetrator after the fact is kind of useless. What we need are better education, prevention and intervention in the lives of those who would be bullies. If we're going to go down the road of including sexual orientation and gender identity in hate crimes, then doesn't everything need to be a hate crime? As a gay disabled man, I am just as likely to be a victim of an attack because some sicko with a gun thinks Im weak and feeble because I am disabled just as much as another perp might see me as weak and feeble because I'm gay. Does that mean that the perp would get double sentences under a hate crime conviction? (not necessarily a bad idea btw), or would the prosecuter be forced to determine whether the attack waas motivated out of hatred of my disability vs my sexual orientation and gender identity, and how would the prosecuter know anyway?

[Aaror]

If your son comes home bragging that he beat up a gay kid, you should be worried, because either you are gay or he is...
Seriously, there are studies (and I can describe them for you if you need) that pretty much prove homophobia is the result of repressed homosexuality. So if your son beats up a gay kid, it is either because they are repressing their homosexuality, or because you are and encouraged them to follow your example.
Of course, the homophobes deny this, but if they are not gay, why do they have a physical response in the groin area to seeing a nude male?

[Shawn Fraine]

True, I've seen the numerous studies in all of my Psych classes (and I'm a Psych major).

[SonofLiberty1]

Bullying period.

Don't you know that kids that are NOT gay are called gay?

Time to reel the teachers and administrators in as well as the parents.

I suffered quite enough thank you in elementary and jr high because I was from a different part of the country.

Enough of this baloney...if they can't stop it...

Let the teachers and administrators and parents ...

SPEND A NIGHT IN JAIL!

[Janet Barnes]

All crime is hate. Hate crime laws are thought crime.

Punish rape as rape.

Punish assault as assault.

Punish murder as murder.

But to add an additional crime because someone call someone a name during the crime? Stupid.

Who cares why the reason the crime is taking place?

We are becoming like the Soviet Union and East Germany. Political correctness is communist in origin.

Sticks and stones may hurt my bones but names will never harm me.

[Aaror]

You are confused, political correctness is not communist in origin, it is the response of the civilized world to what Hitler did. The thing that was communist in origin is our pledge of allegence (don't believe me? Look up the name of the socialist party member who wrote it).

[Gidster]

The "Under God" was added in 1954 to indoctrinate our pious kids against the evil godless Soviets.......

Aaror is right.

If you openly hate an ethnic group, but commit no crime against them, no crime has been committed, your just a bigot.

If you openly hate an ethnic group, and target them for violence and mayhem, those crimes become hate crimes.

It really is very simple.

[SonofLiberty1]

Janet, if you have no idea what it is like to be bullied...and you don't according you what you have written,

Kindly be very quiet before you put your foot into your mouth...and you just did.

[been2there]

Hating someone is not criminalized. Choosing a victim as a result of that hate is--and the feds can investigate and enforce the laws when local police don't bother.
Words do much worse that break bones.

[JohnJames]

You're totally confused about hate crime legislation. It doesn't punish thought or speech. It adds extra penalties to crimes motivated by hatred toward an entire group - a perfectly reasonable thing to do in a diverse and pluralistic society where ultimately we must all get along for the good of us all. At any rate, federal hate crime legislation has existed for years. It includes the categories of religion, race and national origin. Funny how conservatives, like you, make no effort to repeal it -none whatsoever - but go into frenzied hysterics about political correctness and thought control the moment legislation is considered that would include sexual orientation.

[Gidster]

Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and O'Reilly all call it "Thought crime legislation".

Further proof that right wind disinformation is working!

[-0013]

So we need to pass a law to make sure that some kids don't make fun of other kids on the playground? Give me an effin' break. How is anyone supposed to enforce such a ridiculous law? Better yet how do you explain it to children?

[Geoffreys]

there is a difference between teasing and bullying. It is apparently something you have not experienced and therefore not qualified to comment on.

[-0013]

Untrue. I was the victim of anti-semitism throughout grade school and junior high. Got beat up plenty of times. Teachers can't be everywhere at once and they should already be thwarting incidents of bullying with or without a specific law dictating such. You can pass as many laws as you want decrying bullying but someone (teachers school administrators) still have to enforce the law. Good luck with that.

[been2there]

Lets see--pushed into walls, spat on, desk pulled out from under me, beaten up on a regular basis-- Yeah, that needs to be outlawed. It begins with words, so the bullying words need to be dealt with before it escalates to broken bones. I was grateful to be ignored.
And I was not, contrary to rumor, gay--I was just chaste.

[oafishcad]

Jesus explained it like this "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you". Works for me.

[MerhabaAbi]

...because they know their God-given natural sexuality could cause dismissal, demotion or other workplace discrimination...

Why does everyone feel compelled to bring their god into damn near every conversation? I find it even more off putting when it's brought into an article expressing rights and tolerance.

[Stefano]

While I am not disagreeing with you, how are we to punish kids in a playground. Children can be cruel, but it should be up to the parents and teachers to correct this behavior. Mandatory minimums in juvie is not the answer. When society no longer considers calling someone gay an insult, the playground rules will change. But kids pick on those they percieve as weaker than they are. Effeminate behavior is always considered "gay". Parents should be quick to put a stop to it, in other words punish their children for their bad behavior. I do not want policemen to come arresting 12 year olds on the jungle gym. Now as much as I support the gay communities efforts, I do have one bone to pick that I feel is a little related to all the bullying. While this is an exception of course, at the NYC parade this weekend I witnessed a few things that even I found distasteful. I'm just not sure that a 50 year old man in a tutu slapping his partners assless leather chaps is helpful at all. Celebrate your orientation, have a parade, but is this helpful with bridging divides in our culture. If I walked down 5th Ave with my girlfriend in a submission collar while I whipped her behind, I'm pretty sure I'd be in jail for the evening.

[Busbydav]

I think you're misinformed on the Safe Schools Improvement act but perhaps it's the authors fault for not really explaining it.

Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2009 - Amends the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to require:
(1) states to use grants for safe and drug-free schools to collect and report information on the incidence of bullying and harassment; and
/>(2) local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools to use subgrants to prevent and respond to incidents of bullying and harassment. Requires such LEAs or schools to:
(1) notify parents and students annually of conduct prohibited in their school discipline policies, that now must include bullying and harassment; and
(2) establish grievance procedures for students and parents to register complaints regarding such conduct. Includes bullying and harassment within the the Act's definition of violence.

[-0013]

Just what we need - parents suing schools because their kids take a little isht at school.

Line up lawyers!

[Busbydav]

While I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you I'd like to point out that using Pride as a way to judge how we bridging the culture divide is like me visiting Marti Gras and being offending by all the drunk foul mouthed "ladies and gentlemen" flashing their junk for cheap beads.

[Stefano]

First off, thanks for explaining that law, and it makes sense. I really did think we were advocating letting law enforcement take care of it. As for the parade, I absolutely agree, there's always a few that ruin it for everyone else, and maybe I am judging it harshly. But your cause is just, and these actions allow people to paint the whole movement under the same brush. That said, they certainly aren't worse than the bigots, misogynists, and abusers on my side.

[jhamm1]

The whole point of school regulations; science, english, learning the workings of regular schedule, are explicitly designed to prepare them for the outside world, culminating in the skills they need and the responsibilities to assume when regularly employed.

Thus, it is by no means unreasonable to enact additional measures that prepare them for "zero tolerance on violence" policies that they will inevitably face in the workplace or in society in general.

I don't necessarily think that incarceration is necessary in every case, but punishments harsh enough to carry weight as a deterrent, such as mandatory suspension for multiple weeks and further academic penalties for the student incurred for missed work while on absense might finally prompt them to think twice before pouncing on the next victim.

[been2there]

How do we punish kids for disruption? Teachers do know what is going on--not every incident, perhaps, but enogh to step in. Fundie parents can be reminded that "gossip" is not acceptable in the Bible.