HRC Blog

"We were aware that the Congressman is ok with ‘sexual orientation’ but has a hard time with the ‘gender identity’ part of the bill. I shared a couple of stories about friends that have lost their jobs in Central NY due to their gender identity and asked him to please remember my face and please make our country a place where all people can work without being fired because of who they are."

Those opposed to equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have been working hard to push the lie that LGBT people -- and particularly transgender folks -- suffer from “mental illness” are are therefore unworthy of basic employment protections. In an incredibly offensive editorial last month, the Washington Times argued that "discrimination is necessary" or else children would be subjected to "weirdos." They also cite the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a basis for their argument. In response, the President of the APA wrote a letter to the editor of the Washington Times to correct the record and rebut their distortion of the DSM. The paper refused to publish the letter but the APA has given us permission to print it here:

On Friday, Utah-based Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ: ZION) became the latest Fortune 1000-ranked company to amend its policies to prohibit discrimination based on both sexual orientation and gender identity. The reversal came after the company's board of directors staunchly opposed doing this in materials mailed to the company's shareholders on April 15.

Do you know if your state protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from employment discrimination? Use our new Facebook app to find out and share with friends.

New York-based Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), the world's largest aluminum producer and supplier of aluminum can sheet with more than 59,000 employees, became the latest FORTUNE-ranked businesses to join the Business Coalition for Workplace Fairness. The company also rated 100% on the HRC Corporate Equality Index 2010.