Akaka introduces bill to protect federal employees from sexual discrimination
Must read article by Travis Quezon: Honolulu Weekly 05-16-2007
Senator Akaka introduced the Clarification of Federal Employment Protections Act to counter any
possible misinterpretations of the statute that protects federal employees from discrimination
based on sexual orientation. The bill seeks to clean up the language of the law and ensure that
sexual orientation discrimination is something federal employees are protected against without
question.
Thank you Senator Akaka for leading the charge to address the chaos being created by the Bush administration and the Federal Office of Personnel Management!.
Many people don’t realize that discrimination based on sexual orientation is not illegal
under federal statutes. In the past three years, OPM has managed to roll back 30 years of progress in
non-discrimination in the workplace. There’s still a sense of fear for people in the workplace that there’s no protection and people
still get fired for being gay, Hawai'i is one of only 13 states that bans discrimination based on sexual
orientation and gender identity and expression.
While the Clarification of Federal Employment Protections Act is a big step in the right direction, PAWHI believes that stronger gay rights bills like the Employment and Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA)
would address a broader scope of problems if it were passed.
ENDA would prohibit public and private employers from using sexual orientation as the
basis for employment decisions. In its current form, the bill also provides protection against
gender identification discrimination, something the federal employee protection statute fails to
mention. ENDA is cosponsored by 104 representatives including Hawai‘i Reps. Neil Abercrombie and
Mazie Hirono.
