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To the members of the Gender Society:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/07/29/sexual-orientation-discrimination-court/87746732/
I thought that it was imperative that I share an article that may apply to all of us or, in the very least, motivate us to empathize and offer support to a teacher who has been the victim of discrimination for years. According to the article, a lesbian college professor named Kimbery Hively who had been denied a promotion from part-time to full-time college instruction for at least six consecutive years sued an Indiana community college for sexual discrimination. Although she has worked at the college since 2000 and began applying for full-time status since 2009, she has continually been denied the position, and despite the reported advancement in discriminatory protection to members of the LGBTQIA community, her case was dismissed on grounds that there is no federal law that mandates assistance to someone who finds themselves in sexually discriminatory situations in the workplace.
According to a related article, discrimination based upon sex, race, religion, color, and national origin are protected under federal civil rights but NOT sexual orientation. This demonstrates a major inconsistency in regard to protecting people from workplace discrimination, and although the Indiana legislature proposed a bill to the state's civil rights protection to cover sexual discrimination, a lack of support from Republicans saw the proposal fail earlier this year despite support from the Democrats. The bill will not even be addressed again until sometime next year. The community college claims that it is an 'equal opportunity employer' and in fact 'explicitly prohibits employment discrimination based upon a person's sexual orientation' but in the case of Kimbery Hively, this simply isn't so. Lastly, the article mentioned if someone were to sue any organization or institution for not conforming to 'gender norms', such a case would have solid ground because it falls under sex discrimination, not sexual orientation. In other words, if you were a male with noticeable feminine tendencies or a woman with obvious masculine tendencies, you are protected from being denied a job, promotion, or fair treatment, but this cannot apply to a person who is forthcoming about being either gay or transgender.
My take on the whole subject is that it seems as though gay and transgender rights still have a ways to go before wholly protecting honest citizens from orientation discrimination. Listening to the radio and how this is supposed to be the era of gay civil rights could've convinced anyone that this sort of discrimination doesn't exist anymore, but even racial discrimination is still a serious issue today. Those civil rights have been in the works since the days of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. If Kimbery Hively is held back simply because she is gay, what could that mean for someone who is obviously transgendered going in for a job interview in the future with articles touting the constitutionality of discriminating against someone based on their gender orientation? I think this could further discourage those with gender identity problems from thinking that there is a place for us in the world because if we can’t make a living without either hiding or distancing ourselves from gender conflicts, what alternatives are left without some type of legal protection? Hopefully, if the courts ever manifest some kind of wisdom in regards to sexual orientation discrimination, the Internet and media will allow the conception of newly-founded protection laws to spread like wildfire and allow us all to live our lives undeterred by politics and vague gaps in legal wording that set dangerous precedents.
Dana
