74% Oppose H.R. 1755 (S 815 PASSED) The Employment Discrimination Act - ACT NOW - Bill is to be Acted Upon During Last Days of Session

 Status and Opinion on the Bills That Will Be Dealt With In The Last Days Before Holiday Recess

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74% of People "Oppose" H.R. 1755 (Related Bill - S 815 -Passed the Senate on November 7, 2013) The "Non-Discrimination Act, Wait! What?! 

74% Oppose H.R. 1755 POPVOX Page for H.R. 1755 , how could that be? There are 200 Co-Sponsors of this bill List of Co-Sponsors of H.R. 1755 on Congress.gov. It was Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections on July 8, 2013 by Rep. Jared Polis [D, CO-2] yet if you check with the  POPVOX Bill Report you'll see out of the 282 constituents that responded 74% oppose the bill. Organizations that endorse the bill include: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the American Humanist Association, the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), and the Human Rights Campaign. There are no organizations on POPVOX that oppose the bill. So where are these 74% of constituents that oppose this bill coming from?

Opposing Comments

If you look at some of the comments (click or tap the top link "POPVOX Page...") you'll see things like: "It endangers religious freedom and creates unnecessary restrictions on business owners," from jared_quirk1 in Pennsylvania's 3rd District and, from CraigBabich in Virginia's 7th District "Let us not continue to tie the hands of small business in America." How does not allowing employer discrimination based on "the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity" tie the hands of an employer? And finally on the opposing comments oldsquid from Arizona's 1st District "This would force faith based organizations to hire persons that blatantly oppose the very tenants of faith in Almighty God, by their actions, lifestyle, etc." what happened to "Love thy Neighbor" and "treat your worst enemy as you would treat your brother?" Is someone of the LBGT community even an enemy? Is oldsquid judging?

Comments from those that Endorse H.R. 1755

LivSimply in Maryland's 4th District "No one should be denied a job based on their sexual preference or gender identity. This is an issue of basic human dignity and sex discrimination," but is this bill forcing employers to hire people in fear they will be sued? WiseOldUnicorn in Georgia's 2nd District says "If it's wrong to discriminate against people because of things like religion, sex, or age, then it's also wrong to discriminate against them because of sexuality or gender identity." Although you can't "choose" you age you can choose what religion you choose to follow, For those who don't know, people don't "choose" to be gay, wake-up. Unlike Michelle Bachman's Husband who claimed to be able to "Pray the Gay Away," people have come to realize certain things about people's sexual orientation. JudHanson in Arkansas's 3rd District  says "The First Amendment does not grant people the right to use their faith to rob others of their dignity and basic civil rights," and "Discrimination of any kind in the workplace is wrong and should not be allowed." JudHanson is right, there is no such right in the First Amendment.

 

Discrimination in the Workplace is Wrong - Now is the Time To Speak Out

Whether the discrimination is based on age, ethnicity, sex, or sexual orientation, it is wrong. Just as hatred and racism are. As far as employers being sued for not hiring people based on their sexual orientation, that's simple, just hire the best candidate for the job based on experience and merit, not on sexual orientation and they won't be guilty of discrimination. By using this hiring practice business owners will benefit, not be involved in frivolous law suits. People need to become informed. Yesterday I saw a survey by Human Health Services (HHS) that said 27% of people still believe you can be infected with HIV from casual contact (shaking hands) with people infected with the virus. Really? Really? I taught "Communicable and Infectious Diseases" to EMT's and Paramedics in New York City EMS in 1985, then, we weren't sure of which routes of transmission would transmit the virus, but folks, that was 1985! And yet after decades of scientific research which proves beyond any reasonable doubt that it is a bloodbourne disease 27% of people are ignorant to these facts, as well as those of sexual orientation.

S 815 passed the Senate on November 7 2013, and the bill in the House of Representatives, H.R. 1755 needs to pass. You can help! "Click," or "Tap" on this link www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr1755 and click or t6ap on "Call Congress," it will find your Congressmen/women and place the call for you, it even has a script to read from, if you'd like, for when they connect you. But DON'T WAIT, time is running out quickly!