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Loading ...Delaware General Assembly passes anti-discrimination bill
06.25.2009 12:30pm EDT
(Dover) The Delaware General Assembly passed a bill last night that would include sexual orientation in the list of protections under Delaware’s anti-discrimination law.
Both the House and Senate passed the bill last night within an hour each other. Supporters of the bill have been fighting for over a decade to get the bill to pass.“It protects the most basic activities of human life — moving about the world, earning a living, keeping a roof over your head,” said Drewry Fennell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Delaware. “Now the state has said you can’t be discriminated against because of sexual orientation.”
Delaware’s current anti-discrimination law covers housing, employment, public works contracting, public accommodations and insurance. Five bills similar to the one that recently passed have passed in the House but were stalled in the Senate.
A bill very similar to the current one was passed by the House in March, but the late Sen. Thurman Adams would not let it be brought to the full Senate. Opponents of the bill have said that “sexual liberties” are granted in spite of their religious beliefs.
The bill now awaits the signature of Gov. Jack Markell to be made law.
Read the full Delaware Online story here.
is this trans inclusive ?
No Jessi is does not include trans people (just like Nevada, New Hampshire, Wisconson, Massacussetts and Rhode Island – it only says sexual orientation).
Sorry made a small mistake
Rhode Island DOES include trans people.
New York and Connecticut also only say sexual orientation.
http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/issue_maps/non_discrimination_7_08_color.pdf
Maryland next door to Dalaware also only include sexual orientation as well.
More information at HRC:
http://www.hrc.org/your_community/12379.htm
The New York Court of Appeals said that New York’s anti-discrimination statue on the basis of sex also applies to transgendered individuals.
*statue
You are correct Bill S.
Found this HRC map as well
http://www.hrc.org/documents/Employment_Laws_and_Policies.pdf
Steve of Vermont,
I live in Maryland. My state Maryland passed a law saying that you may not discriminate against gay Marylanders in housing, employment, and public accommodations. This is not trans inclusive on the state level for MD as you already said.
HOWEVER, on the county level….
Montgomery County, MD where I have lived since 1966, has a non-discrimination law that specifically covers trans people. It was the source of much fear-mongering and much spreading of misinformation by a radical anti-trans citizen’s group in our county. They tried to get our county’s pro-trans law overturned but failed. This MD county’s trans law is still in place as I write this.
Montgomery County (which borders on Northwest DC) is a good place to live, a relatively progressive and prosperous MD county to live in for GLBTs, where there are local county laws that protect GLBT rights. Gay people employed through the Montgomery County government can get if I remember right health benefits etc for their domestic partners. We don’t have equal marriage laws here, but we have some MD domestic partner benefits gained during O’Malley’s current term as MD governor that we did not have under his antigay predecessor Ehrlich.
O’Malley is pro-MD civil unions, not pro-MD marriage equality.
The reason why transexuals are NOT included in the statutes in 8 states is because they are dubbed as the the “bathroom bills”!!!!
It is very silly that 8 states only include sexual orientation and do not include transgender individuals (others include both)!!!!
At least 14 of the states that do provide anti-discrimination statutes includes BOTH sexual orientation and gender idenity (California, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Colorado, New Mexico, DC, Vermont, Washington, Oregon, Minessota, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Illinois, etc).
The definition of sex, gender and/or sexual orientation in these 8 states should include transexuals:
Nevada
New Hampshire
New York
Massacusetts
Connecticut
Maryland
Wisconson
Dalaware (getting signed into law soon with Sexual orientation only)
WE ARE ALL HAPPY FOR OUR STATE-FINALLY AFTER 10 YEARS !! THIS WAS LONG OVER DO !
When I look at so many things like this bill passing, eg in Nevada over the gov’s veto, in Colorado, now in DE and others, I think that gay folks time has come.
Granted that marriage is going to be a tough sell, but it appears that a majority of the USA support civil unions, granted an imperfect solution, but in spite of the hatred and religious mental illness of the christian/Catholic/Morman Taliban.
Everyone needs to be active. Join your state equality groups. Get together and picket the worst of the churches. Financially support go politicians, almost all but not necessarily Dems (eg think of how Irish Catholic Gov. Lynch of NH signed the gay marriage bill. And his demanding and getting specific exemption for religious groups re marriage (not other things is fine), because it only helps prevent nuisance lawsuits against religious groups, many of which are well on their way to supporting gay people anyway, it is just that religion takes time to change.
And lets be careful about castigate Pres. Obama. He is doing a lot, including appointing 60 gay people to high level jobs, including 9 requiring senate confirmation. It is all about paving the way.
Yes I agree we need to hold Pr. Obama’s feet to the fire. But the total disaster would be to get another bible thumper president like the Criminal Bush. Most of the progressive supreme court judges are old, while most of the conservative judges are younger.
Let the bible thumpers fill the supreme court with RAZI NAZI type conservatives, and it is all over for America. We become a new Holy Roman Empire. Anything but Holy, murderous re eg the Iraq war based on lies, and of course govt sanctioned hatred of minorities.
It happened in Nazi germany, and it could happen here. Only here it would be worse. While hitler used the catholic churches hatred of Jesus own people, the Jews, to get control, Here you would have the Neo-Nazis combined with the religious monstrosities. Bye Bye America, and prob Bye Bye world.
the only winner would be the Bin Laden type mainiacs – those who want a final confrontation between Christianity and Islam, in a nuclear armed world.
the monster is amongst us – not all the republicans, but a majority of them who would destroy America as long as they gained total control.
All in the name Of God no less.
Good news he signed it!!!! (the law becomes effective once signed, usually Delaware has a 66 day waiting period for signed legislation).
http://www.wgmd.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=26107
Thursday, July 2, 3 p.m.: Gov. Markell will signed Senate Bill 121, which protects Delawareans from discrimination based on sexual orientation, CAMP Rehoboth, 37 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach. Law becomes effective once signed.
I need some information: if anyone knows what steps I should take legally to resolve this matter please e-mail me at potatobunnz1@yahoo.com only serious replies. I feel i was discriminated against [in the public accommodations area.]