Brody's Notes... Employment Study: 44% Of Utah's LGBT Persons Say They've Been Fired Or Denied A Job/ Promotion Due To Sexual Orientation/Gender ID

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) JAN 19 | A study coauthored by the University Of California's Williams Institute and Equality Utah, found that of the gay and bisexual Utahns surveyed, 44 percent said they have been fired or denied a job or a promotion due to sexual orientation or gender identity. Among transgender Utahns, 67 percent said they had received such treatment.

The report features a nonrandom survey of 939 lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) Utahns and new analysis of the recently completed U. S. Census, utilizing data that establishes an overview of the LGBT community in the state The report will be distributed to Utah’s 104 legislators today.

The Salt Lake City Tribune reported that Equality Utah is pushing for a statewide law, sponsored this year by Salt Lake City Democrat Sen. Ben McAdams, that would ban housing and employment discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. In November 2009, Salt Lake City became the first Utah government to offer such protections, winning a landmark endorsement from the LDS Church.

Ten more cities and counties have followed the capital’s lead (Midvale became the latest on Tuesday). And a year ago, a Salt Lake Tribune poll found that two-thirds of Utahns support a statewide law.

The GOP majority led lawmakers in the state house have resisted efforts at a statewide anti-discrimination law aimed at easing restrictions that negatively impact the LGBT community during the previous two sessions of the legislature.

“The two concerns we’ve heard from the Legislature in the past is that employment discrimination is very rare ... and there would be a flood of frivolous claims that would burden state government," said Clifford Rosky, an Equality Utah board member. “In Utah, like in other states, the problem of employment discrimination [against gay and transgender workers] is both pervasive and persistent,” he said.

State Senator Wayne Niederhauser, the Republican majority whip told the Tribune he does not presently support a statewide law because of “fundamental questions” about how anti-discrimination protections could conflict with “natural rights,” such as marriage and children.

“If we look at this realistically, I don’t think it has a lot of chance. The Legislature is a little more conservative than it was a year ago.”