Loudoun County Takes A Stand Against Sex Discrimination (Arlington, Fairfax: 2014, employment)

[normie]

Loudoun County Supervisors voted on January 5 to include language in the county's Human Resources Policy Handbook that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The vote was 6-2-1.

The reason this became an issue was that Governor-elect Bob McDonnell has said he plans to abandon the previous administration's order banning sexual orientation discrimination in state government hiring practices.

So... what do you guys think about this?

[SteelCityRising]

I think it proves to me that Loudoun County is light years ahead of the rest of the Commonwealth. It's one thing to ban same-sex marriages and same-sex civil unions, as at least I can understand the rationale that the right-wing has against us being treated equally. However, I never understood any sort of justification to deny someone the opportunity to be employed simply due to their sexual orientation. I mean, how on Earth can you really tell, anyways? Many people whom I work with still think I'm straight. Many people who meet some of my straight friends think they're gay.

[robbobobbo]

I too don't see how it could be construed as a bad thing, but I suppose some will claim it's part of "special privileges."

Do such people openly opine that employers should be able to bar gays from employment or fire them for their orientation?

Good for Loudoun County. Northern Virginia wasn't always this way, not in my time here.

[normie]

It's interesting to see Loudoun leading the way on this one. Until recently, Loudoun had the rep of being more conservative than the other counties. Guess that's changing. Well, they're still pretty conservative when it comes to money and individual rights... getting more libertarian, I guess.

[Stephen 81]

As much as I'm pleased (and surprised) that Loudoun County passed this, it was not the first jurisdiction in the area to do so. Fairfax and Arlington passed similar ordinances (all of which deal solely with employment by the county), Fairfax in 2000 and Arlington even earlier.

You can still discriminate against LGBT people in many other aspects of life in all of Virginia, and that won't change til 2014 at the earliest (if a Democratic governor is elected in 2013).

[normie]

Originally Posted by Stephen 81

As much as I'm pleased (and surprised) that Loudoun County passed this, it was not the first jurisdiction in the area to do so. Fairfax and Arlington passed similar ordinances (all of which deal solely with employment by the county), Fairfax in 2000 and Arlington even earlier.

I'm so happy to hear this! Excellent to know, thanks for posting this.

[cdmurphy]

I think this is great. And I'm not surprised at who voted against... especially given Delgaudio's day job.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by robbobobbo

I too don't see how it could be construed as a bad thing, but I suppose some will claim it's part of "special privileges."

Do such people openly opine that employers should be able to bar gays from employment or fire them for their orientation?

Good for Loudoun County. Northern Virginia wasn't always this way, not in my time here.

Should they be able to not hire people because they're ugly? Fat? Smell bad? terrible acne? No sense of humor? Which people get protected and which ones don't? Why do some count more than others?

If my kid is murdered, I'll immediately claim that he was gay so that his murder gets special consideration. Wouldn't it be terrible if he was ''only'' murdered because he was being a jerk or because he's a smart geek or because he makes money and drives one of those sports cars that some people here hate to see young men driving? Better he be gay so that he gets special laws if he's hurt or killed, and the FBI gets called in to find the murderer. As his mom, it wouldn't make a bit difference to me why he was killed, I'd want the murderer found ASAP, regardless of what was going through their minds at the time. Since some people have special laws, you can bet I'd use the gay card so that my son got all the consideration that they do!

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by normie

It's interesting to see Loudoun leading the way on this one. Until recently, Loudoun had the rep of being more conservative than the other counties. Guess that's changing. Well, they're still pretty conservative when it comes to money and individual rights... getting more libertarian, I guess.

It was a stunt by Stevens Miller. He's running for something and thought this would improve his liberal creds. He's also a total jerk who recently lost to Tom Rust when he moved into that district to run against Tom after having been in his supervisor job for only 2 years. He can't wait to move on.

I want to know when my too skinny kids are going to have a law saying that they can't be discriminated against. Acne should be covered too. And although my kids don't have it, what about people who have obnoxious personality disorder? Shouldn't employers be forced to hire them since they can't help it?

[novatert]

I'm white, but I'm going to take some melanin supplements, and "identify" as black. Then I will demand that society recognize my "racial identity" and give me the benefits of affirmative action. I'm also going to lose my teeth and identify as 87 years old so I can get social security payments.