Civil rights legislation this Congress could easily do.

[Deep13]

Obviously, I agree with and support all the efforts for marriage equality nationwide including the repeal of DOMA. One thing that I think is even more basic is the right to be free from employment or housing discrimination. While the more forward-thinking companies, states and cities prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of orientation, many states and employers in them do not. In most of the fly-over states, employers can and do discriminate on that basis. This comes as refusals to hire or promote, pay inequity or firing an employee for that reason. In most of Ohio, in the 21st century, a person who is fired from a job with the stated reason in writing being "...because you're gay" has absolutely no legal remedy. Likewise, one may refuse to rent for that reason or evict someone who is renting without a lease.

The result, of course, is that people must stay in the closet or starve. Being in the closet means not being noticed. Unnoticed, gay marriage still seems somehow abnormal to others because they don't know of anyone in a gay relationship. They don't know that gay people are perfectly normal, so they oppose adoption or domestic partner benefits too. And they feel free to rail against them from the pulpit. Naturally, being in the closet precludes attending equal rights rallies (there's a reason why those tend to be in big, coastal cities). Also, it increases the isolation of a gay person who is not free to be himself or herself.

A national law ending employment and housing discrimination would allow people to be themselves without worrying about ending up sleeping in the street. Being so free, they would be visible. It's a lot harder to call an unknown "other" evil or deviant than it is to so consider someone ones knows and likes. Once the public around here gets used to the idea of gay couples being normal, it would make legal recognition of their marriages a lot easier too.

So, in addition to major healthcare reform, that is what I would like to see from this Congress.

[Deep13]

1. no one has any remarks on this?

It's kind of a big deal.