Posted on 05/16/2007 8:01:23 PM PDT by Diago
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland plans to sign an executive order Thursday morning prohibiting state government from discriminating against its employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
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State employees who are gay or consider themselves the opposite gender are about to have the same legal workplace protections as their co-workers.
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland plans to sign an executive order Thursday morning prohibiting state government from discriminating against its employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The order goes beyond state and federal law, which protect against discrimination on the basis of race or religion but not on sexual orientation or gender identity. The governor is actually restoring protections for state workers that existed for 15 years under previous administrations before then-Gov. Bob Taft struck them down in 2000.
Strickland's order, which does not need the approval of the General Assembly, will expire when he leaves office. It applies only to state workers.
Spokesman Keith Dailey said the governor believes the order is the fairest way to ensure that "employment decisions are based on performance and not perception."
"This is the result of a long internal process by governor and staff," Dailey said.
Strickland promised to sign such a order during his 2006 gubernatorial campaign, when he won the support of gay and lesbian groups.
Representatives from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center of Greater Cleveland and other gay-rights groups could not be reached.
While federal law does not specifically protect people based on sexual orientation, more local and state governments are doing so, said Sharona Hoffman, an employment law expert at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Hoffman, who formerly worked as a lawyer with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, also said that a few courts have broadly interpreted anti-sex discrimination laws to include gender identity issues.
Hoffman said she believes that attempts to pass federal laws protecting gays and lesbians have been stymied by politics associated with gay issues.
Phil Burress, head of the conservative Citizens for Community Values, which led the successful campaign to pass Ohio's gay-marriage ban, said Strickland's order is bad public policy. He sees little evidence that gays are discriminated against in the public sector.
Burress, who said he doesn't believe the order will undermine the gay-marriage amendment, also charged that granting the protections to gays and lesbians is an "insult to all minorities."
"To give someone these types of privileges based on whom they choose to have sex with is an insult," he said.
In 2000, Taft issued an executive order that eliminated the words "sexual orientation" from a decree banning employment bias in state government. At the time, Taft argued that he did not want to favor any group.
Two prior governors, Democrat Richard F. Celeste and George V. Voinovich, a Republican now serving in the U.S. Senate, included gays in their anti-discrimination orders. Celeste first issued the order in 1984, and Voinovich continued it during his eight years in Columbus.
Earlier this year, Attorney General Marc Dann and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said they were instituting policies in their offices that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
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I don’t have any problems with this. Marriage is one thing, but employment protection is really a no-brainer.
I’ll ping this out tomorrow unless you get to it first.
Employers should be able to fire homosexuals and assorted trans this and that if they so choose. Just as they should be able to fire liars, thieves, alcoholics or anyone else with grave character or moral failings.
It’s time to stop be “tolerant” of that which is morally wrong and psychologically twisted.
Agree, agree, agree!
Being gay is like being a vegetarian. It should require ZERO special protection.
This just means Ted can dress up for his next state of the state address. Accessorize as needed. That is if the rumors are true.
Homosexuality is not like race, since people can leave the "gay" life. It's not like religion, because it is immoral, unnatural, and unhealthy. It's treatable, so no one who wants to change has to stay "gay". And even those with homosexual inclinations doesn't HAVE to act them out. So why the heck should anyone be forced to tolerate homosexuals as employees if they don't wnat to?
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Homosexuals will never be satisfied until they have the force of the government to make everyone accept their perversion. That is what this is about. It is about dispensing special rights to a group of people whose only “distinguishable feature” is who they willingly and knowingly have sexual relations.
Everyone warned that this man would molly-coddle to this group of sexual degenerates. Some even believe he is one of them. Whether he is or not, I know not. We can just expect more of this kind of homo-promo crap from this man.
Tafts an admitted criminal.
Strickland appears to be the next Jim McGreevey....
“To give someone these types of privileges based on whom they choose to have sex with is an insult,” he said. “
Bout says it all. Ohio has an amendment, so they choose the back door to get this in. Despicable
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