Cross-posted at The Employee Advocate Forum
Along with the landmark paid sick leave law discussed yesterday, the Connecticut General Assembly also has outlawed discrimination based upon gender identity or expression.
House Bill 6599, passed on June 4, makes it illegal to discriminate based upon a person's "gender-related identity, appearance or behavior, whether or not that gender-related identity, appearance or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with the person's physiology or assigned sex at birth." The prohibition is comprehensive, applying not just to employment, but also to housing, state contracts, higher education, library services, utility services, automobile insurance, trade, public accommodations, credit, state services and golf club memberships. This enormous step forward in LGBT rights, which Governor Malloy intends to sign, will take effect on October 1, 2011. The employment provisions are extremely broad, as they apply to every employer in Connecticut with at least three employees.
I can't tell you how gratifying it is that my home state is working to swing the pendulum back towards protecting the rights of human beings, instead of corporate "persons."