Gay people live in 50 Americas

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/20/opinion/sutter-50-a … ?hpt=hp_t3

Good piece by CNN and one that is oh so true. The gay experience in this country is vastly different from state to state and place to place. Even city to city. Here in TX, gay people are included in the statewide Hate Crimes law, but that is about the ONLY protection that gay people have here, although some cities offer limited legal protections. Marriage would be great, but here we face such basic realities as we can be fired or kicked out of our homes if our boss or landlord doesn't like the fact that we're gay.

The safety and respect that all Americans should be entitled to are vastly different for a gay man growing up in Alabama vs. a gay man growing up in California. And as a country, we should be ashamed of that.
By BearinFW | 03/20/2013 08:56 PM | 7 comments
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  • Well, you certainly can't accuse Texas of being hostile toward guns :)

    Unfortunately, though, the state cares a lot more about its guns than about its gay citizens.
    BearinFW 03/21/2013 11:27 PM
  • Sure, PR, if a landlord or a boss really wants to get rid of you, they'll figure out a way regardless. But it is good to have laws on the books so they can't be overt about it. Here in TX, my boss could call me into his office, say he saw my profile here and fire me because of it. No questions asked. Of course, in TX basically NO employees have any rights, so we're not unique in that.

    And Bearlyy, not only federal and state laws, but also county and city. The lower entity's laws can't override federal law, for instance, but they can add to it.
    BearinFW 03/21/2013 03:32 PM
  • yeah bearlly, there are the national laws and the state laws........everything varies by state. You can have a Democratic president in office and your state could have a Republican govenor both having opposing views but both in charge...one in charge of the country and one in charge of the state.
    kelleysiland 03/21/2013 02:50 PM
  • I'm glad I live in Illinois......looks like we may have gay marrage by summer. And, I think, we will be the largest populated state to put gay marrage into law. We have been protected here for years. And the city of Chicago is probarbly the biggest advocate for gay rights than any city in the country.
    kelleysiland 03/21/2013 12:56 PM
  • I have to say I helped get the law in Oregon signed. Also many labor unions have the same rules against discrimination in the workplace also and another reason we need unions to help protect those people that can't afford to defend themselves. Is it a cooincidence that the fall in union membership and the increase in the income descrepancy happened at the sametime. I have never understood the rhetoric around unions from workers as they continue to give up more and more benefits,wages and support those that take from them. Does anyone question the lawyer that wins your court case and takes 40% of your settlement? Hell I paid 2% a year to my union and many times had them help me to keep a job or pay a medical bill and I earned 20% more than my unrepresented fellow workers.
    barney290 03/21/2013 08:07 AM
  • Notice a common denominator on your state list, guy? Yep, gay people in Red State America are treated as less than full citizens and, in fact, except for the Supreme Court decision on the TX sodomy laws would still be criminals. I don't know that the current court would be willing to go there yet, but clearly the situation is one that the High Court is eventually going to have to change, because the states themselves will not do so.

    I'm very grateful to CNN for these stories, because gay citizens of Red States are largely forgotten in the discussion of gay rights, which tends to focus on the more progressive states. In states like TX, Mississippi, etc., gay Americans are just a step above illegal immigrants, and that's about it.
    BearinFW 03/21/2013 01:49 AM
  • CNN also includes a "gay rights calculator" weighing how states rank on gay rights issues. I wasn't surprised in the least that Texas came out near the bottom. After all, a few years back, our illustrious moronic homophobe of a governor said Texas isn't going to change anything on gay rights, and if gay Texans don't like it, we are free to move to another state.

    http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/03/opinion/lg … bt-rights/
    BearinFW 03/20/2013 09:26 PM