It's time to end another type of discrimination

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer had an interesting column advocating for passage of HB 1515, which would add sexual orientation to the list of banned types of discrimination. It's the 30th year in a row that such a bill has been introduced in Olympia. The column's author, Thomas Shapley, eloquently makes the case that if we ban discrimination based on religious affiliation -- clearly a free choice -- then we should oppose discrimination based on sexual orientation, even if it is not yet proven whether orientation is inherent or a choice.

Read the rest of Shapley's column.

Just a few days earlier, Tracy Warner, the generally moderate columnist at The Wenatchee World, called for passage of the bill, too. Since The World Online requires subscription, here's an excerpt:

"You're fired."

"But, why?"

"Because you're a ( )."

In Washington state, and the nation for that matter, there are certain words that legally cannot be used to fill that blank. Baptist, Methodist, Jew, Catholic, Rastafarian, Sikh, Muslim, etc. -- state law specifically forbids discrimination on account of "creed." Or write in black, Asian, Latino, Caucasian -- discrimination on account of race is forbidden, too. Or write in woman, or man, or single, or divorced, or married with children, or blind, or deaf, or mentally disabled, or physically handicapped -- all those cases are specifically protected under Washington state's law against discrimination.

By all these factors you cannot discriminate in "employment, in credit and insurance transactions, in places of public resort, accommodation or amusement, and in real property transactions." The people of the state of Washington through their elected representatives have deemed these rules wise, in the cause of advancing a just and civil society.

You can, however, fill that blank with "homosexual." Firing an employee for that reason and only that reason is perfectly legal in this state and most others. No law prohibits discrimination on account of sexual orientation, even if that orientation is not made evident by any behavior or "lifestyle." All that is required is the prejudice of the person doing the firing.

...

So this is not about political correctness or anything else trendy. It is not about currying favor with a political constituency. The bill is about the fundamental function of government in a free society -- to protect the rights of citizens, particularly those in the minority.
...

It merely gives to a definable minority what the rest of us have: the right to be judged by what we do, not what we are.

It's not every day that columnists for The P-I and The World are in sync. Let's hope the Legislature can see that 30th time is a charm.