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The State of the Union
One reality of life for your LGBTQ colleagu
es is that the
level of legal protections they are granted is different from those
granted to non-LGBTQ individuals.
The right to marry was granted in 2014! This conveyed
other everyday rights and benefits. For example, both LGBTQ
parents can now be legal parents to their children. They have the
legal right to visit a spouse or child in the hospital, give directives
for their medical care, or attend their child’s parent-teacher
conference. Their family can benefit from the social security taxes
they paid should they predecease. We’ve come a long way.
However, there is still work to do. In many states it is legal
to deny public accommodation (ex: refuse service in a restaurant),
expel from housing, or fire an individual for being LGBTQ. Legal
protections for transgender individuals lag even further behind
those of lesbian or gay individuals. We are headed in the right
direction but there is still work to do. Let’s get it done!
Sourc
e:www.HRC.org,2017