H.R. 3685 just passed in the House...

Time for all employers to throw away their dollars and hire lawyers...

Notice that little funky word "perceived"?...

I works like this...

You sell power drills and barbeques...You want a "manly" spokesmen to push your product...You don't want anyone "swishy"...

PLEASE NOTE!!!! - I did not say "gay"...I said "swishy"...In other words, the employer DOES NOT CARE if the spokesperson is gay or not...He just wants someone to come across without looking light in the loafers...He would take Rock Hudson in a second, but not Richard Simmons...

Here are the 4 scenarios...

Straight guy loses the job to another straight guy because the second straight guy comes across as more "manly" and "outdoorsy"....No issue...

Gay guy loses the job to another gay guy because the second gay guy comes across as more "manly" and "outdoorsy"...No issue...

Straight guy loses the job to a gay guy because the gay guy comes across as more "manly" and "outdoorsy"...No issue...(Except for the jokes from his friends)...

But if a gay guy loses the job to another straight guy because the straight guy comes across as more "manly" and "outdoorsy"?...

LAWSUIT!!!!!!!

Yup...Even if the employer doesn't give a rat's ass whether the guy plays shortstop for "the other team"(Seinfeld reference), that guy is allowed to call foul on the employer because it's "perceived"...

Even though that perception will probably destoy his product line...Kinda like getting Danny DeVito to model for Victoria's Secrets...

All an employer has to say is the truth..."Your swishy demeanor is not what we'd like our products to be represented by."...and now he's gotta get lawyers to defend him...

Most people would automatically jump up and say "You didn't hire him because he's gay!"...Which would not be so...You didn't hire him because he was "swishy"...If anyone wants to think that "swishy"="gay", you'd be wrong...

"swishy" is a stereotype produced by society that means "acting the way in which most people would have you BELIEVE that person is gay"...

It doesn't mean gay...I know a couple of swishy straight guys...

But with this badly written legislation, being gay doesn't even matter anymore...

If someone gets fired or not hired because they even LOOK gay...or someone might even THINK they're gay, then they're gonna be in trouble...

Just another way to indoctrinate culture into acceptance and not tolerance...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

Your scenario would be, at best, a rare occurrence.

The good done by this bill far outweighs the far-fetched hypothetical scenario you've come up with.

The scenario is what would happen if the employer stood his (her) ground...

But the untold times of an employer hiring a gay guy (even though he/she otherwise wouldn't for some other reason) or keeping the gay guy on the job simply because they know it may cause a ruckus if they don't is paramount...

It's the same fear tactic used by minorities for decades...

EMPLOYER - "You're fired because you come to work late, you've repeatedly stolen stationary, you've been criticized by the rest of the department, and you're work ethic is atrocious."...

EMPLOYEE - "you're just firing me because you don't like (blacks, gays, Mexicans, women)!"...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

Firing somebody can be dicey business to begin with. Any employeer with experience is going to know they are going to have to have a pretty good case, and records to back it up.

So, the "you're just firing me because I'm (fill in the blank)" excuse wouldn't hold up anyway, if the person really had screwed up badly enough to be fired.

You're making it sound like it's so easy to start a legitimate discrimination claim when it just isn't. Employers, especially corporations, document EVERYTHING. When someone gets fired, its usually airtight and the times it isn't there is more than likely legitimate cause for litigation.

But if it's NOT there, then the gay person is free to pick an accusation out of the sky and win on it...

All for the failure of an employer's documentation...

Also, keep in mind that documentation doesn't happen in most non-coporate businesses...You're not gonna find people written up in gas stations and convenient stores...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

No more so than the woman or the black person or the white person with a persecution complex. It is a lot more difficult to bring a valid discrimination suit than you are letting on.

Ummm...news flash...there is a reason that larger companies ALWAYS have HR departments. Labor codes are specific and require documentation whether there are gay people there or not.

And you also don't see huge lawsuits happening at gas stations and convenience stores because there aren't millions to be made off of suing them. Further, small businesses of less than a certain number of employees are not subject to the same stringent laws regarding affirmative action, workplace diversity, and EOE codes.

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Jesus Was A Liberal

If a certain course of action makes the mouth-breathers furious, then that’s a good policy. – The Practical Environmentalist

Why have 3 groups play that game when you can have 4?...

This bill just made it a whole heckuva lot easier...

And even IF the lawsuits don't go up, the FEAR of employers has been firmly set in concrete...The walking on eggshells around gay people because of their newly protected status...

Irrelevant of legal action, this is what WILL happen...

It works the same way the ACLU or the NAACP works...just the THREAT is enough to make people cower...

A mentioned in the original post, I have NO PROBLEM going after ANY bastard that would fire someone based on their sexual orientation...

What I have a problem with is the term "perceived"...

That's makes it subjective, and 60 tons of documentation won't change that...

One employer could fire someone for what it a LEGITIMATE reason, but when YOU hear the story, you'd say "I would've fired him for that."...

That's opinion...and that's fine...

But for a JURY to push that opinion on an employer could ruin their business...

What a wonderful concept!...People create frivolous lawsuits because they can get cash...let's make sure gays can get their fair share of this disgusting display!!!...

They are now...

I don't remember seeing limitations on the bill...I saw the word "employer" a few times...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

Of course, I live in a "right to work" state...

Which is basically just a fancy way of saying your ass can be fired at any time without warning..

It's sort of nasty on one hand.
But on the other, it does level the playing field. Sort of like the Drill Sergeant in Full Metal Jacket and his approach to prejudice.

"In my eyes, you are all equally worthless!"