Even as
they celebrate epic victories in the push for marriage equality, gay-rights
activists acknowledge that other difficult issues remain that are infringements
of human rights. The struggles to expand transgender rights, and the striking
fact that even in some states allowing same-sex marriage, people can lose their
job for being gay. As stated in the New York post.
For
many activists, the top priority after marriage is federal legislation that
would outlaw a broad range of discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals
and transgender people. There’s no such federal law now, and more than half the
states do not ban discrimination by employers or public accommodations based on
sexual orientation. So even though they have the legal right to marry the laws
don’t affect their employers or other public places of business. That means I could be fired from work if my
employers found out I was married to the same sex. Or if my same sex wife and I want to have a
romantic dinner at a restaurant they have the right to turn us away. Letting
these laws stay in place makes the fight for legal marriage seem without cause
, if they still will be discriminated against in their day to day lives.
“There’s absolutely no good
reason — if you can get married — why you should be denied a
hotel room or a job,” said Fred Sainz, a vice president of the Human Rights
Campaign. “There will be a fair number of states where you can get married and
be fired the same day for having gotten married.”
The number of gay-marriage states – previously
19 – is expected to nearly double soon, and continue growing toward what many
Americans now assume is inevitable expansion to all 50 states. With this
expansion federal courts should also make a blanket law prohibiting any
company, or establishment from discriminating against same sex couples.
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