Employment non-discrimination laws based upon sexual orientation continue to be all over the news in Virginia and it was heartening to see the Richmond Times Dispatch basically call The Family Foundation a liar (which is indeed the case) by name. The Family Foundation, like most of the homophobic Christianist organization, whines incessantly that gays should not have "special rights (of course, TFF wants all kinds of special rights for itself and its hate driven followers). For too long too many have cowered before TFF brownshirted, jackboot behavior against anyone that it doesn't like be it gays, immigrants, blacks, non-Christians. The list of those who are unacceptable "other" is a long one with TFF. Here are highlights from the Times Dispatch main editorial:*
Many of the Virginians who have stood up for Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who has (deservedly) come under withering fire for his letter to colleges and universities, seem to be laboring under a misapprehension. They claim to "oppose creating a special class for homosexuals," as the Family Foundation puts it. But that is not what discrimination law does.
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Anti-discrimination laws and policies don't create special classes of people who have more protection than others. For instance, the law doesn't say, "No discriminating against black people" -- thereby leaving open the door to discrimination against white people.
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Rather, the law says, "no discriminating on the basis of race." The law protects everybody -- white, black, Hispanic, Asian, etc. That's why the Supreme Court ruled last year in favor of white firefighters who were denied promotion in the famous race-discrimination case in New Haven, Conn.
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Likewise, a law forbidding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation doesn't protect just homosexuals. It also would protect a straight man or woman who was discriminated against by a gay boss.
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Forbidding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation should not be so controversial. After all, among the countless institutions of higher learning with policies against such discrimination is the law school at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University.
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Anti-discrimination laws and policies don't create special classes of people who have more protection than others. For instance, the law doesn't say, "No discriminating against black people" -- thereby leaving open the door to discrimination against white people.
*
Rather, the law says, "no discriminating on the basis of race." The law protects everybody -- white, black, Hispanic, Asian, etc. That's why the Supreme Court ruled last year in favor of white firefighters who were denied promotion in the famous race-discrimination case in New Haven, Conn.
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Likewise, a law forbidding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation doesn't protect just homosexuals. It also would protect a straight man or woman who was discriminated against by a gay boss.
*
Forbidding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation should not be so controversial. After all, among the countless institutions of higher learning with policies against such discrimination is the law school at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University.
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