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ACTION ALERT - 2 PHONE CALLS NEEDED
Senate Bill 2012 entitled Prohibited
Discrimination would add
sexual
orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, and familial status
as impermissible grounds for discrimination and discrimination in public
lodging establishments and public food service establishments, etc.
The bill has been referred to the Commerce Committee and 3 other
committees. Therefore, since the bill has to get through 4 committees, it
is critical that the Commerce Committee calendar the bill for hearing
ASAP.
Tampa Bay area supporters are asked to contact 2 members of the
Commerce Committee to
1. Please ask these two senators to urge Senator Rudy Garcia, Chair of the
Commerce Committe to set the bill for a hearing ASAP.
2. Please ask these two senators to also become a co-sponsor of this
important bill.
Senator Charlie Justice - Democrat from District
16 - Tally phone number 850-487-5075
Senator Justice was a Co-Sponsor last year.
Senator Victor Crist - Republican from District 12
- Tally phone number 850-487-5068
Senator Crist
voted
for the bill in committee last year
Talking
points on the bill can be found at
Time is of the essence. Please see what you and your contacts
can do, and please keep me posted. The bill watchdog, Rand Hoch, would
like to report back to Senator Deutch on our progress by Tuesday.
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Please contact your legislator today and ask them to support the bill and be a co-sponsor.
The Florida Civil
Rights Act currently covers race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age,
handicap or marital status, Florida's Fair Housing Act covers race, color,
national origin, sex, handicap, familial status or religion.
The Deutch-Skidmore legislation updates Florida's laws covering employment,
housing and public accommodations to cover race, color, religion, sex, national
origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,
pregnancy, familial status or marital status.
The
legislation narrowly limits the definition of "sexual orientation" to "an
individual's actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, or
bisexuality." The definition of "gender identity or expression" is limited to
"a gender-related identity, appearance, expression or behavior of an individual,
regardless of the individual's assigned sex at birth".
Since 2003, every state which has passed comprehensive civil rights legislation
has included both sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.
Background
Contrary to popular belief, it is entirely legal in many areas of Florida to fire someone from their job -- or deny them a place to live -- solely because he or she is gay.
Across the nation, twenty states and the District of Columbia have fair employment and/or housing laws covering sexual orientation. The most recent thirteen of these states to enact such laws and the District of Columbia also have included gender identity or expression.
Since 1990, seven counties and ten cities in Florida have taken steps to address similar problems by amending their fair employment and housing laws to cover "sexual orientation" and/or "gender identity or expression". These laws laws are in effect in Broward, Leon, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Orange, Palm Beach and Pinellas counties, as well as in the cities of Gulfport, Gainesville, Key West, Lake Worth, Miami Beach, Orlando, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Tampa and West Palm Beach.
As a result of state and local laws, 52% of the U.S. population now lives in jurisdictions protecting gay men and lesbians from discrimination. 39% of the U.S. population now lives in jurisdictions which also protect individuals based on their gender identity and/or expression.
Most of American's smartest business minds understand that a person's sexual orientation or gender identity has nothing to do with their job performance. That is why that, as far back as 1997, private employers throughout America have taken steps to support fairness in the workplace. Currently, more than 90% of the Fortune 500 companies have written policies prohibiting workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and more than one-third also prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and/or expression.
For these businesses, it can be difficult to hire the best employees in a state, county or municipality without laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Prospective employees who believe in equal treatment in the workplace may hesitate about going to work for a company doing business in a location that does not have anti-discrimination laws in place.