I was an employment law paralegal for many years, and I know well that when an employer is accused of discrimination, there are always many ways to view the situation. Sometimes discrimination is clear and blatant, but usually it's very hard to figure out what really happened and why.
However, I firmly believe that nobody SHOULD be discriminated against for any superficial reason.
I was very disturbed to open Facebook this morning and see a link to an article about a new bill in the Georgia legislature that looks to open the door to discrimination based on "religious reasons."
Marriage Equality Campaign to Launch; Proposed bill could discriminate against LGBT
From the article: "...at 4 p.m., Georgia's General Assembly will hold committee hearings on HB 1023 and SB 377, otherwise known as the "Preservation of Religious Freedom Act."
According to the Democratic Party of Georgia, the potential impact of both bills is far-reaching. Under the proposed laws, individuals and private organizations could claim an imposition on their religious freedoms to make decisions otherwise protected by current law. For instance, both of these bills would allow employers to discriminate against potential employees based on current protected legal statuses — like race, sex, age, pregnancy, sexual orientation, nationality and even religion under the guise of protecting the employer's religious freedom.
Much like bills proposed in Arizona and Kansas, these bills would grant business owners from serving LGBT people, as well as a host of other discriminations."
Now, I am not one to blindly believe one source on anything, so I researched this. I found the actual bill itself and read it. I can certainly see why Democrats oppose it.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution's Jay Bookman has a great editorial about this bill, and it details the alarming consequences if it passes. He says:
"Georgia has no law that protects gay people from discrimination, and is extremely unlikely to be passing one anytime soon. It thus has no reason -- not even a bad reason -- to pursue HB 1023. The bill was filed and is being pushed solely because that's what all the cool conservative kids are doing, and because it sends a message of defiance to those who believe that gay Americans ought to be treated the same as everybody else."
I have always loved Georgia and I've always been proud to be a citizen of this great state, like so many generations of my family before me. However, if this insane bill passes I will seriously consider moving. I have neighbors, friends and relatives who are gay. They deserve exactly the same legal protections as everyone else, and to deny them that is simply WRONG.
I am also proud to be Episcopalian, because we have led the way in not discriminating against gay people - in fact, quite the opposite. There are churches here in Atlanta who have floats in the annual Gay Pride parade. We have a gay bishop.
You can sign a petition to tell folks in the Georgia House and Senate not to sign this horrible piece of legislation. I urge you to do so.
However, there is very little being said about this in the media here. We need to mobilize opposition to this bill! Let's get the word out.
