Post by Mr. Nnamdi on May 23, 2011 18:11:58 GMT -5
First time posting, so I thought I'd bring up an... interesting story. Apparently, anti-discrimination laws are great for religious or ethnic reasons, but ones for gay people are a burden on the economy:
Rest of the story can be found here: www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/23/tennessee-anti-gay-bill-chamber-commerce-business_n_865581.html
Words fail me.
WASHINGTON -- Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) must decide by June 1 whether to sign legislation prohibiting cities in the state from passing anti-discrimination laws protecting LGBT individuals. But the ones feeling the most heat on the issue are a group of national corporations under pressure from gay rights activists to convince the governor to veto the measure.
The bill, HB 600/SB 632, would bar local governments from instituting anti-discrimination policies that are stricter than the ones in force at the state level. Under state law, it is not illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. But in Nashville, it is. The new legislation's immediate effect would be to void Nashville's strong civil rights ordinance.
One of the groups that lobbied in favor of the bill was the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce.
"Our position is now, and has historically been, that employment standards from the government should be consistent across the state and not create an additional burden on companies that are endeavoring to be competitive and provide jobs to all Tennesseans based on their individual qualifications and merit," the Chamber explained in a statement. The business lobby did not return a request for comment Monday.
The bill, HB 600/SB 632, would bar local governments from instituting anti-discrimination policies that are stricter than the ones in force at the state level. Under state law, it is not illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. But in Nashville, it is. The new legislation's immediate effect would be to void Nashville's strong civil rights ordinance.
One of the groups that lobbied in favor of the bill was the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce.
"Our position is now, and has historically been, that employment standards from the government should be consistent across the state and not create an additional burden on companies that are endeavoring to be competitive and provide jobs to all Tennesseans based on their individual qualifications and merit," the Chamber explained in a statement. The business lobby did not return a request for comment Monday.
Rest of the story can be found here: www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/23/tennessee-anti-gay-bill-chamber-commerce-business_n_865581.html
Words fail me.
