Question

1. Explain the what, if any, federal protections exist to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity

Answer 1

Sexual iOrientation ior iGender iIdentity idiscrimination iincludes ibeing itreated idifferently ior iharassed ibecause iof iyour ireal ior iperceived isexual iorientation—whether igay, ilesbian, ibisexual, ior iheterosexual. iIf ifederal iprotection ii.e., ilaws iand ipolicies iexist iat imultiple ilevels ithen ithe iU.S. iConstitution ior iState iConstitution iwho iguarantees iall ipeople iincluding iLGBTQ ipeople, i“equal iprotection iof ithe ilaws.” icould iprohibit idiscrimination ibased ion isexual iorientation iand igender iidentity.

Therefore, ithe ifederal ilaws iprotect ipeople ifrom iworkplace idiscrimination ion ithe ibasis iof isex, irace, inational iorigin, ireligion, iage, iand idisability, ithere iis ino ifederal ilaw ithat ispecifically ioutlaws iworkplace idiscrimination ion ithe ibasis iof isexual iorientation iby iprivate iemployers iin iwhich ifederal igovernment iworkers iare iprotected ifrom isuch idiscrimination. iTherefore, ithe iemployment inondiscrimination ilaws icould iprotect iLGBTQ ipeople ifrom ibeing iunfairly ifired, inot ihired, ior idiscriminated iagainst iin ithe iworkplace iby iprivate iemployers ion ithe ibasis iof isexual iorientation ior igender iidentity.

The ipublic iaccommodation ilaws igenerally icover ianywhere isomeone iis iwhen ithey iare inot iat ihome, iwork, ior ischool, iincluding iretail istores, irestaurants, iparks, ihotels, idoctors’ ioffices, iand ibanks. iIn iconstrast, ipublic iaccommodation inondiscrimination ilaws icould iprotect iLGBTQ ipeople ifrom ibeing iunfairly irefused iservice, idenied ientry ito, ior iotherwise idiscriminated iagainst iin ipublic iplaces ibased ion itheir isexual iorientation ior igender iidentity.

Housing inondiscrimination ilaws icould iprotect iLGBTQ ipeople ifrom ibeing iunfairly ievicted, idenied ihousing, ior irefused ithe iability ito irent ior ibuy ihousing ion ithe ibasis iof itheir isexual iorientation ior igender iidentity. iAdditionally, iCredit iand ilending inondiscrimination ilaws icould iprotect iLGBTQ ipeople ifrom ibeing iunfairly idenied icredit iand ilending iservices ion ithe ibasis iof isexual iorientation ior igender iidentity. i