More than half a century after the Civil Rights Act was signed into law, discrimination is still legal – at least against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans. With marriage equality in the headlines, few realize that the LGBT community’s battle goes much further.
In many parts of Ohio, for example, an LGBT person may be fired or refused employment, service, credit, and even housing based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
“Marriage equality is on my list, but it’s nowhere near the top,” said Benjamin Kraly. “I want to be able to walk into a facility, be who I am, and know that I will not lose my job. Number one for me is job security.”
A 2013 Pew Research Center survey of 1,197 LGBT individuals found that workplace discrimination is one of the most important policy issues in the LGBT community.
Kraly, whose name has been changed for this article in order to protect his privacy, job, and safety, described himself as “queer.” “It encompasses, for me, both gender and sexuality,” he said. “I use [the word queer] for myself to take power away from a word that is highly stigmatized and used to put people down.”
Kraly was forced to leave a local employer because of workplace harassment due to his sexual orientation, and pointed out that a similar situation could happen at any time. “I could walk into the facility in which I work tomorrow and they could say, ‘Oh, you’re gay. You’re fired,’ and I would have no legal standpoint for protection. Whereas you can’t walk into your employer and they say, ‘You’re a woman; you’re fired.’”
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson, prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin illegal. The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act protect against discrimination based on age or disability. However, no federal law offers discrimination protection for LGBT individuals.
Twenty-one states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, and eighteen states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, outlaw discrimination based on gender identity as well as sexual orientation.
Ohio is not among them. The Ohio Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, disability, age, ancestry, military status, or sex (which encompasses pregnancy and any illness arising out of and occurring during the course of pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition), but there is no mention of gender identity or sexual orientation.
Equality Ohio Communications Director Grant Stancliff said of workplace discrimination, “It’s more common that you would think, in part because it’s perfectly legal. There’s no protection at the state level to prevent discrimination in the workplace, or to provide any kind of recourse for an LGBT person who had been discriminated against. You don’t hear a lot of news stories or a lot being reported because there’s no crime, technically, to report.”
Stancliff noted that some cities, and even some villages, have passed ordinances to prevent LGBT discrimination. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) offers a Municipality Equality Index which rates cities based on non-discrimination laws, relationship recognition, municipality as employer, municipal services, law enforcement, and relationship with the LGBT community.
Each city receives a score of 0-100. Ohio cities and scores for 2014 were: Akron, 68; Cincinnati, 100; Cleveland, 79; Columbus, 100; Dayton, 95; and Toledo, 58. A similar State Equality Index is also available online.
Some major corporations have policies in place to protect LGBT employees, and federal LGBT employees, as well as employees of companies holding federal contracts are protected from workplace discrimination.
“It’s a patchwork of non-discrimination policies,” said American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Ohio Policy Manager Lisa Wurm.
An interactive map showing each state’s policies and protections, or lack thereof, can be found at the HRC website.
Stancliff agreed protection is patchwork at best. “Someone could live in one place that maybe doesn’t have protection and work somewhere that does,” he said. “When they drive on their commute they may not have to worry so much about workplace discrimination, but when they drive back home they could get kicked out of a restaurant or denied service at a movie theater or something just because they are there with their same-sex partner.”
Stancliff said that one person he knows of eats lunch in his car to avoid accidentally saying something during lunchtime conversation, perhaps a reference to his significant other, that would reveal his sexual orientation to coworkers and put his job in jeopardy.
“It’s something that people have to live with, in how they choose to portray themselves at work, whether they’re open or more reserved as a result of this kind of fear, and wanting to keep their job,” he said.
When asked how things can change to allow equal rights for all, Stancliff replied, “I would say it’s easy, but we’ve been trying to get this law passed for some time. But I think one thing we can all do is learn more about LGBT, about some of the situations they encounter, and also just having conversations with friends and family. A lot of people don’t even know this is happening.”
On their website, Equality Ohio quoted a 2013 poll by Goodwin Simon Strategic Research in which 79 percent of Ohio registered voters believe that laws should be passed banning discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on both sexual orientation and gender identity.
Wurm noted that many people support non-discrimination policies, and those people need to let their legislators know that.
“We are human, and that’s what some people don’t always remember,” said Kraly.
“Marriage equality is on my list, but it’s nowhere near the top,” said Benjamin Kraly. “I want to be able to walk into a facility, be who I am, and know that I will not lose my job. Number one for me is job security.”
