It is now becoming obvious that right-wing religious nuts, through their Republican elected officials, won't be able to prevent same-sex marriages anymore. But that doesn't mean they are ready to give members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender) community rights equal to all other Americans. The map below shows the states where employers can't discriminate against members of the LGBT community. Note that less than half of all states not ban workplace discrimination, while some other ban it only for state employment.
But that doesn't mean the right is not trying to repeal the few rights in the workplace that the LGBT community currently has. Governor Brownback of Kansas just signed an executive order removing the right of Gays/lesbians in that state employed by the state. That means they can now be fired just for being homosexual. And Arkansas has gone further -- passing a bill that would deny its cities and counties from passing anti-discrimination laws. And these are not the only states -- many Republican states are currently introducing anti-homosexual laws.
The really crazy part of this is that the public opposes workplace discrimination much more than it supports same-sex marriage. Not the chart below (from a June YouGov Poll). Note that an overwhelming majority of Americans (76%) thinks it should be illegal for any employer (public or private) to fire a person for being LGBT. And this huge majority scans the demographic spectrum on sex, age, race, income, region, or political preference (including 71% in the red-state South, and 68% of Republicans).
The right-wing politicians may be pleasing a few fundamentalist teabaggers, but they are putting themselves in opposition to the vast majority of Americans. It seems like the Republican officials are going out of their way to make sure most Americans won't like them.
LGBT employment discrimination law in the United States Sexual orientation and gender identity: all employment Sexual orientation: all employment Sexual orientation and gender identity: state employment Sexual orientation: state employment No state-level protection for LGBT employees
