LGBTQ* Employment Discrimination

The not so straight going through straight-up issues

[not-so-straight-blog]

Reflection

11th post

I’ve learned more about a problem and that there are solutions. This project has brought me more insight into how the government can impact the LGBT community. I thought that the government was the one institution to legally end discrimination. I was not wrong in that the government is a powerful institution, but I didn’t know that there are institutions that do not need to abide to discrimination laws. I was interested in this issue because I have had family conversations about LGBT employment. Some of them believed that it was appropriate to discriminate against LGBT individuals because they could endanger others within that employment. This rings especially so when LGBT individuals who seek employment around children. They justified the discrimination because of reports of sexual assault and abuse from LGBT individuals. I knew what they said was wrong and I wanted to better challenge that.

           Further in my research, I learned that there were other issues other than employment discrimination that needed to be addressed. I didn’t fully comprehend how much of an issue it became within religious institutions to discriminate against LGBT individuals and those who are affiliated with them. I didn’t know that the government cannot do anything about protecting the rights of employees within these religious institutions. But it is encouraging that there are some institutions who are working towards protecting LGBT rights. I understand that it is still an issue to be challenged. While there isn’t much intersectional research regarding LGBT employment discrimination, I did learn more of the other issues within the LGBT community. Issues like loan and housing discrimination is a prevalent issue and issues regarding health care and other public accommodations are not given enough volume to be addressed. The world is different to me now because I know just how little I know it to be that way.

[not-so-straight-blog]

Resources and more

10th post

Here are the resources that I reviewed throughout this blog:

·         “Employment discrimination: The next community” by Jennifer Calfas

This article does well in bring attention to the employment discrimination issue despite same-sex marriage being legal. Within it are details of acts of discrimination and what efforts have been made by the federal government on this issue.

·         “Remarks on Signing an Executive Order on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Employment Discrimination”

This is a government document that details President Obama’s speech in writing the Executive Order in 2014 that protects federal employees of employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

·         “Same-Sex Hiring Policies Polarize Some Christian Colleges” by Kate Stoltzfus

This is an article that reviews how certain religiously affiliated colleges and universities are including protection policies against sexuality and gender identity discrimination and ensuring employment benefits to its LGBT faculty. It’s an important insight to the functioning and efforts being made within religious institutions in relation to LGBT employment discrimination.

Here are some additional resources that can help.

·         Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: LGBT Discrimination

This YouTube video of HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is a good introduction to LGBT discrimination occurring in America. It is engaging and insightful.

·         Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Transgender Rights

This is an additional video from John Oliver that gives insight into Transgender issues. Employment discrimination is briefly mentioned within this video, but it does enlighten some transgender issues in America. This is an important means to intersectional education because transgender issues are not as deeply discussed as gay and lesbian issues.

·         “FACT SHEET: Taking Action to Support LGBT Workplace Equality is Good For Business”

This is a White House article detailing why it is important to support LGBT individuals in the workplace as it benefits business. This expands on several issues regarding LGBT employment discrimination.

·         Equality Act proposal

This is a link to the Equality Act bill and it details its status through legislation and what the bill is proposing. It defines what groups are not to be discriminate against and how those groups are protected.

·         Movement Advancement Project (MAP)

This is a site that maps out the LGBT issues. It has the American map detailing the laws implemented to protect certain LGBT groups. Within this site, it also help visualize the issues of LGBT housing and public accommodations.

[not-so-straight-blog]

Recommendations

 9th post

1.      In an effort to combat discrimination, one important way of helping is education. Educating yourself with an intersectional lens with regard to the LGBT community is one of the most important ways to combat discrimination. More often than not, being ignorant of certain problems contribute more to those issues. It is said that those who are ignorant or neutral give power to the oppressor. You can make a difference, especially when that difference is made within yourself. You can contribute and impact those around you and the knowledge you possess can either lead to a positive or negative impact. Learn about LGBT employment discrimination and who is impacted and how they are impacted. There is no one experience or problem. People who face discrimination and people who contribute to that discrimination are impacted in what you know or don’t know. The most important recommendation is you.

2.      Support the Equality Act. It is a proposed bill in the legislation to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include gender identity, sex, and sexual orientation into the prohibited categories of discrimination. This also entails that it is illegal to segregate this group in places of public accommodation. This may positively impact LGBT individuals who are denied loans, admission to colleges, health care, housing, and so on. In showing support for this bill, you are expressing and bringing volume to these issues. The federal government is a powerful institution that can directly impact the LGBT community in placing legal protections for their rights.

To read more about the bill, follow this link

To show support, follow this link

3.      Finally, a low tolerance toward harassment, discrimination, and other anti-LGBT behavior. Challenge the heterosexual norm and be critical of any behavior or media that contributes to LGBT oppression. You can impact how society views a certain idea by joining the conversation. This is helpful in having other reevaluate societal traditions and understand how they can be harmful. This adds to the momentum and changes the climate with how the LGBT community is regarded.

[not-so-straight-blog]

Blog Summary

8th post

Employment to earn money is a human right that shouldn’t need to be fought for, but it is. More than half of the American nation has no laws protecting individuals of employment discrimination against sexual orientation and gender identity. While same-sex marriage has made a positive impact of those who are affected by this, the prevailing issue is that several companies are within the legal right to terminate their employment. This is a nationwide issue that impacts all of the LGBT community. Within my research, there have been no observations to whether race, gender, or socioeconomic groups are differently impacted by employment discrimination. There is no information provided to how companies terminate their employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The research isn’t there at all.

But I still managed to learn about LGBT employment discrimination. I learned of the federal actions that have been made to protect LGBT employees. While enlightening, I have also learned that discrimination is still an issue for industries who do not have a federal contract with the government and for religious institutions. I understood that employment is an issue, but I did not know that even if the government places antidiscrimination laws, there are several institutions that do not need to implement those laws into their practice. Issues like housing and education also share an issue with employment discrimination. In class, I know how important employment is, especially when LGBT individuals are employed in positions of power. They can have a greater impact on the community, but they cannot achieve that in termination of opportunity. I’ve only learned that there isn’t one solution to LGBT employment discrimination; but it’s better than believing there is no solution. 

[not-so-straight-blog]

photo credit

What’s the (intersectional) issue?

7th post

Intersectionality is an understanding of the relationship between identity and power. It is an understanding of how institutions of oppression use identity to omit or privilege. LGBT employment discrimination is an intersectional issue because the community itself encompasses a grand variety of subgroups that interconnect and influence one another. What makes LGBT employment discrimination an intersectional issue is that there are several forms of oppression connecting and collaborating. It isn’t just a sexual orientation and gender identity issue but also a race, gender, and class issue. When examining the LGBT employment issue, activism approached in combating discrimination neglected issues like disability and mental health. This sort of issue has been discussed before, the privileged having the abilities and resources to communicate their own issues while neglecting the marginalized groups. Not only that but LGBT employment issues also encompasses the issues of wage gaps in relation to heterosexual coworkers or coworkers of different races and genders. Ultimately, when observing LGBT employment discrimination, it needs to be understood as an intersectional issue because other experiences within the community need to be accounted for. It’s necessary because introducing a conversation how oppression is differently experienced will soon introduce resolution.

[not-so-straight-blog]

Great Power and Great Irresponsibility

6th post

Discrimination is powerful when it is given power. Power structures that contribute to lgbt employment discrimination and issues are employers and the government. The government can have a direct impact on how corporations conduct their businesses. It has the power to provide laws and guidelines that accommodate and enable equality no matter race, gender, or sexual orientation. What makes the government an institution of concern towards LGBT discrimination is that it impacts how society functions. It establishes and enforces the law and America is to abide. The government has the power to define who is an American civilian and how those civilians are to be treated. They also have the power to change how America functions as they have done several times in the past.

Employers are in positions of power to hire individuals to earn a means of economic living. It is a fortunate fact that 91% of the Fortune 500 companies have prepared protection policies. Corporations have its own structure that can be influenced by how the government requires. These two institutions have an immediate and direct impact on the lgbt community seeking employment and when they do not progress into creating an environment for equal opportunity, it becomes an issue. Not only that but job security has yet to be legally exercised as same-sex marriage is nationally legalized. As discussed in class, there are individuals in positions of high employment who are lgbt but will not openly disclose that in risk of losing their positions. This is due to discrimination and no enforced consequence in acting out that discrimination. Employers and the government can influence and eradicate discrimination.

[not-so-straight-blog]

photo credit to Huffington Post. (Kristen Ostendorf to the right)

Kristen Ostendorg

5th post

Kristen Ostendorf is a cisgender, white, Catholic woman from a middle class standing and she had been fired in August 2013. Arguably, Kristen Ostendorf is in a privileged standing in terms with the LGBT community. This is demonstrated in that she has written a Huffington Post blog that details her termination after opening up that she is a lesbian. She was teaching as a Campus Minster at a Catholic high school in Minnesota for eighteen years until she was terminated. She writes of her history growing up in Chicago, to which she accords as a Catholic city. She writes of the importance of faith in her life and how teaching and being a Campus Minister were her life passions. She did not detail her history with her sexuality but only knew that it was an issue when you are a Catholic teacher. Kristen shares in her blog post that being rejected from her church, her community deflates her. But she shares that she has faith that there can be a change.

           Kristen Ostendorf’s experience is related to my topic because she has directly dealt with LGBT employment discrimination. Not only that, but she was terminated from a religious institution, an institution that is infamously known for having a low tolerance with the LGBT community. This relates to the research I have done with regard to how religious institutions regard LGBT employment. It is unfortunate that despite the years she has dedicated into the high school and the respectable performance she has had, her sexual orientation became the undoing of her career. Growing up, religion was important to me. I do not like how they have been treating the LGBT community and that they would let go an individual who has made a great impact in that community simply due to her sexual orientation in opposition to her performance.

link

[not-so-straight-blog]

Analysis of Chronicle of Higher Education’s article “Same-Sex Hiring Policies Polarize Some Christian Colleges” by Kate Stoltzfus

4th post

In reaction to the US Supreme Court legalization of national same-sex marriage, in less than a month Eastern Monnonite University and Goshen College announced that they will be welcoming married gay, lesbian, and transgender employees and providing benefits. This is a significant announcement because these institutions are the first members of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities to include sexual orientation and gender identity into their nondiscrimination policies. These institutions have hired gay and lesbian employees before, so long they were celibate. While this kind of momentum can lead to more strong challenges against religious principles, there is a great push back within the council. Some Christian colleges and universities withdrew from the council and others are threatening to leave should Eastern Mennonite and Goshen remain members. The Supreme Court decision and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities decision towards same-sex marriage have brought a polarizing debate. Several colleges of religious affiliation are motioning for accommodating nondiscrimination policies and benefits for LGBT employees. Others however are rewording their policies in defining marriage to be an institution between a man and a woman. Some institutions are even terminating faculty who express support for the LGBT community.

           In class, religion had been discussed as an institution of oppression towards the LGBT community. It is no surprise when they react a certain way that pushes back against LGBT progression. But when some institutions are including LGBT nondiscrimination policies and employee benefits, it’s encouraging that the religious community is moving forward a little bit. It is discouraging that there are still plenty of religious institutions who are conservative enough to even terminate employees who express support to the LGBT community.  This scholarly article is different from some of the ones I have read in that it brings religious institution into the conversation about employment discrimination. In my previous analysis of Obama’s remarks in signing an Executive Order protecting federal employees from sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination, there was the acknowledgement that religious institutions and affiliated academic institutions are not under law to follow that order. This article brings this concern into light. Some institutions are reacting and creating policies and that is progression. But others are becoming more strict and exclusive. My only question is how long and what will it take for the religious community to accommodate the LGBT community?

link

[not-so-straight-blog]

Analysis of Government document “Remarks on Signing an Executive Order on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Employment Discrimination”

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza 

3rd post

           On July 21, 2014 President Barack Obama signed an executive order that protects federal employees against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identification. An executive order is a rule or order that a president can issue to an executive branch of government and be enforced as law. This means that government branches like the military or any business that has a federal contract with the government cannot discriminate against employees based on sexual orientation. The signing of this order adds protection against gender identity. The following attachment is a government document that has the speech of what President Obama remarked in signing the executive order. He remarks on how several states are following equality in implementing bans on workplace discrimination based on sexuality and gender identity. He also acknowledges that too many states still find it a fireable offense based on sexuality and gender identity. The President regards the audience that he knows that this progress does not equal workplace equality but is ready to use his power to start making a difference.

           I appreciate President Obama’s speech and how he has aware he is of the LGBT employment issues. I will say that it has taken a while for this kind of protection to be implemented. While it is a step forward in history, this executive order does not impact corporations that don’t have federal contracts with the government. What measures are being taken to implement this kind of protection for businesses outside federal contract? What is being done to prevent states from implementing laws that advocate discrimination? It is noteworthy that the government has protection against discrimination. Having this powerful institution having this form of structure can only mean that they can greater impact the rest of the nation.

Government document link

[not-so-straight-blog]

Analysis of “Employment discrimination: The next community” by Jennifer Calfas

2nd post

Within this USA Today web article, Calfas responds to the historic legalization of same-sex marriage on June 26 with an acknowledgement that LGBTQ equality has yet to be achieved. In America, there are 28 states in which it is legal to fire someone based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 holds as a federal recourse against employment discrimination, it prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, and nation of origin. However, it does not extend to the LGBTQ people. So even though same-sex marriage has been achieved, the announcements of a same-sex marriage can legally consequence to those individuals facing unemployment. As an effort to address this issue, a bill called the Equality Act has been introduced into the House and encompasses issues of discrimination, housing, education, and other accommodations of concern for the LGBTQ community.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is an agency that enforces federal laws regarding employees and has ruled that the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes LGBTQ individuals to be protected against discrimination. The article continues to detail other legislative efforts to protect against employment discrimination. Fortunately, as the Human Rights Campaign reports, that the Fortune 500 (list compiled by Fortune magazine that ranks 500 of the largest US corporations based on total revenue) has established workplace policies protecting sexual orientation and gender identity. The percentage of those companies establishing protection policies jumped from 61% in 2002 to 91% in 2014. However, although federal laws can protect LGBTQ individuals and companies are entitled to enforce them, religious organizations or affiliated schools are not under that obligation. According to the director of the workplace equality program at HRC, while laws and policies are necessary for equality, they do not equal equality.

Regarding that last statement, I do agree that laws and policies are necessary for equality. But history has shown that while there is a lot worth celebrating when the government has pushed laws and policies advocating equality, there are several groups who resists those laws. I agree that laws for equality do not sufficiently equal equality. This raises questions of what can be done to reach for equality.

-With regard to religious institutions, is there anything that can be done outside government influence to enable job security for LGBTQ individuals?

-Is there a way to change how religious affiliated institutions treat their faculty?

-How about corporations that are not under federal contract and are also not obligated in enforcing the protection laws?

Article link

[not-so-straight-blog]

Introduction

LGBTQ* Employment Discrimination

Discrimination is unsurprisingly common place nationally and internationally with regards to individuals who are LGBTQ*. That is an injustice and one of the greatest injustices is the discrimination these individuals suffer in terms of employment. 

Despite the national legalization of same-sex marriage in America, several states are within the legal right to dismiss out LGBTQ* people from employment. The consequences of this action reinforces the negative mistreatment towards the LGBTQ* community. This community is composed of individuals from different races, genders, class, religions, and so on. The impact of this discrimination against this community impacts how society reacts to it. 

This blog is about employment discrimination and the consequences of its presence on LGBTQ* people. There is a fear of coming out when careers are at risk. People in positions that are highly regarded or have influence are also in a position of discomfort when their sexuality could put that career at risk. Being out will mean being put negative stereotypes of being incapable of performing work or endangering the workplace with their predatory sexuality. Being treated with this discrimination in the workplace will resonate with how society reinforces that discrimination. 

I’m interested in this topic because for years I have been bothered with how my family defends the act of firing gay men in professions that interact with children because they are likely to be child abusers and molesters. This is a shared and reinforced mindset that needs to be deconstructed. I want to understand just how deeply employment discrimination has influenced the LGBTQ* community and how those issues are being approached.