Download Workshop PowerPoint - Jericho Public Schools

Rachel Green and Denise Ryder, Jericho High School
Elisa Weidenbaum, Jericho Middle School
Joey Bergida, Cold Spring Harbor High School
Surgeon General's Warning: Teaching is hazardous to the health
of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and those perceived by others to be
gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Teachers that fit into the above category
may regularly experience anxiety, headaches, stomach problems,
high blood pressure, depression, and in some cases death caused
by career-related complications.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits
employment discrimination based on race, color,
religion, sex, and national origin
In some states…
…civil rights legislation extends protection beyond
federal criteria and precludes discrimination based on
height, weight, and marital status
However, courts have held…
…that Title VII does not prohibit discrimination based
on sexual orientation
Enter the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act of 2007
• ENDA (H.R. 3685) prohibits an employer from using
an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity as
the basis for adverse or different treatment in
employment or employment opportunities.
• On Nov. 7, this bill was passed in the House of
Representatives (235 – 184). The bill now goes on to be
voted on in the Senate.
Some statistics…
There is no federal law that expressly forbids workplace
discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender people.
 Only twenty states currently have laws making it illegal to
fire someone based on their sexual orientation
 Thirteen states and Washington D.C. have ENDAs that
protect sexual orientation as well as gender expression
 Seven states have ENDAs that protect sexual orientation
but not gender expression
 Thirty states have no laws that protect LGBT workers
More facts…
 Vermont has had an ENDA since 1992 but began
protecting gender expression only this year
 Wisconsin was the first state to pass an ENDA, in 1982
 Minnesota, in 1993, became the first to have a
transgender-inclusive ENDA
 When New York passed its sexual orientation only
ENDA in 2002, LGBT rights groups hoped to cover
transgenders in the near future (this has not happened
yet)
Why can’t a school be more like a
business*
(According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force)
 corporate America has voluntarily put in place
policies prohibiting discrimination against LGBT
people
 as of January 2007, 430 (more than 85%) of the
FORTUNE 500 companies had implemented
nondiscrimination policies that included sexual
orientation, and 121 (nearly 25%) had policies that
included gender identity/expression
*generally speaking, it is not good for a school to be like a business
Civil rights for gay teachers is
critical for youth
 a positive climate for gay teachers can have a
tremendous effect on the physical and emotional
development of gay youth and of youth (gay or
straight) who have gay parents, relatives, and/or
friends
 30 percent of all completed teen suicides are by gay
and lesbian youth
Final potshot…
…our laws currently facilitate and nurture an educational
system where schools are able to use tax money to
speak about respect while modeling bigotry