Last week, as reported in The Cavalier Daily, the Virginia House General Laws Subcommittee tabled Senate Bill 785, which would have protected public employees who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender who do not work for the state from workplace discrimination. The bill passed the state Senate with bipartisan support before the House subcommittee tabled it, making it impossible for the bill to be considered for the remainder of the session. This order of events happened to this bill in the exact same way last year.
A 2011 report from The Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law aggregates the amount of discrimination LGBT workers face. As of 2011, 78 percent of transgender respondents to a survey said they had experienced at least one form of harassment or mistreatment at work because of their gender identity, while 47 percent specifically noted discrimination in hiring, promotion or job retention. As of 2008, of lesbian, gay and bisexual respondents to the same survey, 27 percent had, at one time, experienced workplace harassment.
It is obvious the problem of workplace discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community persists. With no current national law in place to mitigate this discrimination — the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 died in Congress — addressing this issue is left to the states. SB 785 would address this problem, solidifying in law the state’s stance on issues of discrimination. For legislators who are against particular rights being granted to LGBTQ citizens, passing a non-discrimination bill should still not be a question: ensuring citizens are treated fairly in the workplace should be uncontroversial.
At the University, non-discrimination policies have already been put in place. But we cannot rely on individual institutions to institute such policies of their own volition. Unfortunately, such moves toward an anti-discriminatory work environment require legislative action. Even more unfortunately, the current legislature — or at least this specific subcommittee — refuses to take such action. According to Metro Weekly, the House Committee on General Laws assigned SB 785 to Subcommittee #4, which has previously killed two House bills similar to SB 785.
While legislators often lay claim to representing their constituencies in their votes on bills, no such claim can be made when evaluating bills at the committee — let alone subcommittee — level. Since the bill was clearly not objectionable in language for it to be passed by the Senate, its tabling in committee is likely reflective of the legislators’ stances on the issue and not actual questions with the bill itself.
This suggests these legislators stand against equal rights in the workplace for Virginia citizens. A foundational element of the make-up of our society — state and national — is the guarantee of equality. LGBTQ citizens deserve the same legal protection from workplace discrimination as any other citizen; by tabling this bill, these legislators are denying them this fundamental right.
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