This month, the federal government
implemented a new policy that bans employment discrimination on the basis of
gender identity. Job descriptions for employment in the federal government will
now have an expanded Equal Employment Opportunity law which states:
Believe it or not, this is a big step
forward. It was only in 2005 that Maine provided legal recourse
for citizens who faced discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation
and gender identity. Maine is only part of a handful of states that provide such
a protection. Ian Thompson from the ACLU Washington Legislative Office wrote on
the ACLU’s Blog of Rights that “It
remains legal to fire or refuse to hire someone for being lesbian, gay or
bisexual in 29 states, while transgender workers can be denied or refused jobs
in 38 states.” The federal government has taken a big step by making this
change to their equal employment opoprtunity law and adding it not only to its
handbook of policies, but to their employment website. According to the New York
Times, “When the administration foreshadowed the change back in June, it was
thought the guidelines would be in an updated federal handbook for managers and
supervisors. Their inclusion instead in the equal-employment opportunity notices
on www.usajobs.gov, the federal jobs site, was viewed as even more
significant.”
While posting the EEO law on usajobs.gov website is
significant in some
ways, it would be even more significant if Congress
would pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, to make laws like the ones
we have in Maine exist across the country, which you can learn
more about by clicking
here.
After that, maybe we can also eliminate Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell and the Defense
of Marriage Act, so that all LGBT Americans can not only feel secure in their jobs, but also serve in our military and marry the people they love.