Kaitlin Moroney
Argonaut
If you came out as gay or trans* at your place of work tomorrow — and you work in the state of Idaho — you could legally be fired under state law. Idaho law also allows you to be evicted from your house and denied service at a restaurant.
Hundreds gathered at the statehouse in Boise on Jan. 11 for the “Add the Words” rally, that was put on by an independent group lobbying for the addition of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the types of discrimination banned under the Idaho Human Rights Act.
As of yet, the state legislature has refused every year for the past seven years to even consider making those changes to the legislation. And according to news reports, the group isn’t confident lawmakers will change that pattern this time around.
This should be a non-issue by now. Members of the LGBTQ community should not have to live in fear of losing their livelihoods and their homes. In a country built on diversity, we should be far beyond the point of oppressing those who don’t belong to the dominant demographic. But unfortunately, we aren’t.
But here we are, in 2014, and we need to hold rallies to ask our lawmakers to even consider protecting marginalized groups of people. A majority of Idahoans support the change, 60 percent, according to the Add the Words organization, and Idaho needs to follow what is right in the eyes of its people.
This isn’t a “gay issue,” it’s a human issue. An issue of compassion, dignity and equal treatment. Idaho may bleed red, but that shouldn’t mean we are so backwards in our ways to deny these incredibly basic human rights to citizens of the state.
If everyone put themselves into the shoes of those being discriminated against and asked themselves “What if it were me?” this would be a non-issue.
Imagine if you were fired because of something you can’t control — like your race or your gender. Even if you believe — wrongly — that being gay or trans* is a choice … it is still an incredibly important and central aspect to who somebody is. Like choice of religion, perhaps. If you wouldn’t want to be fired for any of those things, you need to support this legislation.
If lawmakers aren’t going to do it, we need to make them. Contact a representative, place phone calls and write emails. We need to make our voices heard on this critical issue. Being complacent is the same as being complicit.
Kaitlin Moroney can be reached at [email protected]