As more states and municipalities add gender identity and expression to their anti-discrimination laws and ordinances and we are celebrating our victories we have to realize that our battle is not over. It is one thing to have a law, it is entirely another thing to have people aware of the law or obey the law.
When we were discussing the strategy in passing Connecticut gender inclusive anti-discrimination bills one of the things that we debated was whether to slip an amendment under the radar to pass the law or go with a bill, we choose the bill because we recognized that education was an important part of the process. We also knew that it would make it much harder to pass.
However, even knowing the law some people and businesses chose not to obey the law. Take the case in Ohio where a business decided to fire the employee and pay the fine.
So why do we even fight for our laws when they really don’t have much teeth and businesses routinely flaunt them? It is because of what the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.” Some businesses might not obey the law, but many more will. It also shows that society does not approve of intolerance against us.
When we were discussing the strategy in passing Connecticut gender inclusive anti-discrimination bills one of the things that we debated was whether to slip an amendment under the radar to pass the law or go with a bill, we choose the bill because we recognized that education was an important part of the process. We also knew that it would make it much harder to pass.
However, even knowing the law some people and businesses chose not to obey the law. Take the case in Ohio where a business decided to fire the employee and pay the fine.
Ohio judge fines club in Columbus’ first-ever transgender discrimination caseSo they decided to break the law and pay the fine and as a result one woman is out of a job. Yesterday I wrote about a sheriff’s deputy who said, ‘I don’t care’ about the law and threw out a trans-woman from the bathroom. Here in Connecticut a bar on Karaoke Night threw a trans-woman out of the restaurant because she made the other customers uncomfortable was fined and they lost their liquor license (I believe it was for a week).
LGBTQ Nation
Bob Vitale
March 12, 2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A municipal court judge in Columbus, Ohio, has ordered owners of a private dining and business networking club to pay a $1,000 fine in the city’s first-ever transgender discrimination case.
Franklin County Municipal Court Judge H. William Pollitt Jr., on Monday levied the fine against Columbus Hospitality Management, owners of the Capital Club, for retaliating against Savanna DeLong and denying her work at the downtown club.
[…]
The company denied wrongdoing, but pleaded no contest in court. President Charles Lagarce said fighting the charges would have been too costly, and he described the plea and acceptance of the fine as “the best business decision for us.”
So why do we even fight for our laws when they really don’t have much teeth and businesses routinely flaunt them? It is because of what the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.” Some businesses might not obey the law, but many more will. It also shows that society does not approve of intolerance against us.
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