From alaura@u.washington.edu Tue Apr 2 11:36:09 1996 Return-Path: Received: from homer17.u.washington.edu by lists.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW96.03/UW-NDC Revision: 2.33 ) id AA07805; Tue, 2 Apr 96 11:36:08 -0800 Received: from localhost by homer17.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW96.03/UW-NDC Revision: 2.33 ) id AA148553; Tue, 2 Apr 96 11:36:07 -0800 Date: Tue, 2 Apr 1996 11:36:07 -0800 (PST) From: Suzanne Klinger To: uwtpride@u.washington.edu Subject: PRIDE Corner #2 Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Please give me your feedback, comments, changes, suggestions, etc. ASAP about this next Pride Corner for the Independent. I dashed it out while operating on about 3 hours sleep so if it doesn't make sense, I will not be offended by your corrections. It is due today so please respond no later than about 6 pm tonight so I have time to make changes and get them to Mark Craypo. Thanks. Do federal civil rights laws ban job discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation? According to a recent survey conducted by the Human Rights Campaign, only 20% of the respondents knew that "no" is the correct answer to this question. 30% of the respondents said that they weren't sure what the laws say, and 50% thought that the laws do prevent such discrimination. What do these results tell us? More than anything, they suggest that many people have not examined the legal issues that affect the jobs, families, and lives of sexual minorities. To be responsible and fair citizens, we need to understand the laws and the impact that they have on our friends and neighbors who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered. In this month's PRIDE CORNER, we will outline two ways in which current laws create a "second class status" for sexual minority people. Test your knowledge...how much of this did you know? JOB DISCRIMINATION: Federal laws now prevent job discrimination based on a person's race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, religion, age, veteran's status, or disabilities. However, throughout most of the country it is entirely legal to fire a person for being gay, or to refuse to hire a person because of his or her sexual orientation. Only nine states have laws that prevent job discrimination based on sexual orientation---and Washington is NOT one of them. And in the 41 states without such laws, only a few cities and counties (like Seattle & King County) have changed their laws to protect their residents from unfair discrimination. It is important to recognize that a federal law to prevent job discrimination based on sexual orientation will protect all of us. Heterosexual people will also be protected (and there have been cases where gay employers discriminated against heterosexual employees). Surveys suggest that 75% of all Americans believe that it is wrong to discriminate against an employee because of sexual orientation. Shouldn't the laws be changed to reflect this? SAME-SEX MARRIAGE: It is currently impossible for same-sex couples to marry legally in the United States. This means that same-sex couples cannot file joint income tax statements, cannot receive their partner's Social Security pensions, and cannot claim the spousal exemption to inheritance taxes. Same-sex couples are denied insurance, denied visitation rights when one is hospitalized, and are consistently "underpaid" (regarding benefits like medical and dental insurance) in comparison to their legally-married heterosexual co-workers. Marriage laws create residence status for non-Americans who marry American citizens; in horrifying contrast, when one partner in a same-sex couple is not an American citizen, the couple can be separated forcibly by deportation laws. The list goes on...in the Hawaiian lawsuit challenging the ban on same-sex marriage, a brief listed over 100 legal benefits afforded to married couples. Many people confuse legal marriage with religious (or sacramental) marriage; in fact, a marriage license is NOT a religious document. The current laws do not require partners to be sexually faithful or to love one another, and do not require that the married couple have children (or that they be capable of reproducing). So, what would happen if the laws changed to allow same sex marriage? As far as heterosexual people are concerned, making same-sex marriage legal will have little visible impact. The same-sex couple who live next door won't "look different" when they are married, but many of the significant legal papers and financial obligations in their lives will finally be equivalent to those of the legally married heterosexual couple who live across the street. The anti-gay minister down the street will still refuse to marry same-sex couples (after all, he can legally refuse to marry any couple whom he judges to be inadequate). But, come to think of it, heterosexual people will be affected when our laws change. Aren't we all affected when we work together for a fair, just society? Weren't we all affected when interracial marriages were illegal, when people could be fired (or not hired) because they were Jewish or Catholic? Doesn't unfairness diminish all of us? Aren't we all lesser people when we accept unfair laws? .