Monday, April 6, 2009

WV Employment & Non-Discrimination Act

This one is really something I'm going to crib from another source.  I just moved back to my home state of West Virginia after years travelling the world and living in cities.  My little state is a pretty odd mix of politics - mostly Democratic, thanks to a strong union base in the coal mines, the biggest employer.  But it's right in the Bible Belt, and leans conservative socially, which probably surprises no one.  The people here are good people - heck, even the people at the DMV today were friendly and nice.  But they're a little behind the times with GLBT issues.  Sometimes they surprise you - they defeated a constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage just last week.

West Virginia is one of the places on the map where it is still legal to discriminate against GLBT people in employment, housing, and even public accommodation.  It doesn't matter how kind the people at the DMV are about a license, you can still be fired for being gay.  And I'm in the job market right now.  A lot of people are.  And I simply want to be assured I can be treated like everyone else.

The WV Senate has passed S.B. 238 again this session.  And the bill is stalled in committee in the House of Delegates.  And the legistlative session is nearly over - it's only 60 days in WV.  So if you know me, know my family, know the families of all those gay kids I went to school with and left because they don't feel safe here, call Speaker Thompson and tell him to move SB 238 out of committee and give it the vote it deserves on the floor.  Tell him that for the sake of industry, jobs, and WV families, we need to make fairness the law of the land in WV.

If you want to email, there's a great form set up at fairnesswv.org you can use.  And join FairnessWV - they're a new organization, and they need members and funds to help make a difference.

I'm going to post the office numbers of the Rules Committee members that can move this bill to the floor.  Call them.  You're all good people in WV, you believe in fairness, I know - because I grew up here.

Speaker Rick Thompson’s office at (304) 340-3210

Brent Boggs 
Mike Caputo 
Ron Fragale 
Barbara Hatfield 
Charlene Marshall 
Jim Morgan 
Brady Paxton 
Mary Poling 
Joe Talbott 
Scott Varner 
H. Keith White

(304) 340-3220
(304) 340-3249
(304) 340-3114
(304) 340-3140
(304) 340-3900
(304) 340-3192
(304) 340-3337
(304) 340-3265
(304) 340-3116
(304) 340-3187
(304) 340-3230

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Fairness West Virginia