Quote: “Wisconsin became the first state to pass a law preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation on February 25th, 1982. Although other states like Massachusetts would follow suit nearly a decade later, the state of Wisconsin was the first of today's total of 20 states that have passed laws to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.”
Reaction: Well, I didn't know that that state I used to live in had passed those types of laws first. I am however from Massachusetts and as long as I have been alive (I'm 27 this year), there have been anti-discrimination laws in place for people in the state I was born and raised in (Massachusetts) ever since I can remember. I do not remember a time where being a lesbian or a gay male, bisexual person or transgender was considered a basis for discrimination where I grew up, especially in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. My parents, two women, yes, they're lesbians, may my mom P. Goff rest in peace. My moms were married in October of the year 2005 and I am VERY proud of their marriage and who my mother is as a person and who my other mom was as an individual when she was still with us.
Quote: “Before the enactment of this law, LGBT people were routinely denied jobs that were available for heterosexual people. Discrimination was commonplace, and LGBT community members were often put at risk of losing their jobs or homes if they decided to be open about their sexuality.”
This reminds me of “don't ask don't tell” when it was a thing in the military. Honestly, if it's such a big deal to you that LGBT people be open about who they are, how they identify, and what we like, you can fuck off like the little bitch that you are! We're here, we're queer, deal with us bitch! Homophobic people like you will be a thing of the past the more society progresses and your ways won't be missed!
“In the years leading up to the introduction of the country’s first anti-discrimination law, police across the country clashed with the LGBT community in numerous encounters. These riots made national news and as word spread, LGBT communities across the country were inspired to fight against the injustices they faced in their own communities.”
Yes, incidents like The Stonewall Inn on June 28th, 1969 was a thing and it started a whole coalition and a movement for queer people such as myself. The police ran into the openly gay bar, raided it and shut it down so quickly that you couldn't get any words out. They arrested a ton of queer people to say the least, and honestly, I don't care for people who aren't at least allies to LGBTQ+ people like me.
Quote: “In Wisconsin, legislator Lloyd Barbee drew on the response to these clashes to gain support for a new bill that would protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation. When he retired, he passed the bill onto Representative David Clarenbach who worked on getting support to pass the bill. Assembly Bill 70 (AB70) was officially proposed by Representatives Clarenbach, Leopold, Coggs, Ulichny and Becker in 1981 and went on to be passed with bipartisan support and signed into law by a Republican governor, Lee S. Dreyfus.”
Reaction: The fact that protections were starting to come into effect by then is a great thing for us as a society to say the least. The fact that only 20 states have enacted this type of support for the queer communities across the nation and not all 50 is kinda ridiculous. We need all 50 states to enact such policies, because “nobody is free until we all are free!” Thank you to Martin Luther King for that quote by the way.
Quote: “The anti-discrimination bill introduced in the Wisconsin legislature put an end to state-condoned anti-LGBT discrimination, explicitly stating that one cannot legally deny someone housing, public accommodations, or employment on the account of one's sexual orientation.”
Reaction: Since this was a Republican who passed the bill with bipartisan support, I am surprised that a Republican actually fought for our rights. However, I did just learn that they were some of the first people to get such laws passed here in the states.
Quote: “The bill also stated that one cannot be denied access or service in a public accommodation based on his or her sexual orientation. Any place, public or private, that served the public as whole in Wisconsin could no longer reject patrons based on their sexuality. Employers were held to similar standards and were prohibited from practicing of discriminatory hiring methods. It was now illegal for employers to refuse to hire someone or in any way harass employees due to their sexual orientation.”
Reaction: Did you know it's also illegal for employers to also ask your sexual orientation? In Massachusetts, they even omit gender from applications of any sort. They only ask your name and SSN on an employment application or a housing application. They can however only ask who you're married to if they find out that you've had a prior surname/maiden name but you do not have to disclose the sex of your partner, your sexual orientation or theirs. It's also none of their business.
Quote: “Although the bill did not protect discrimination against members of the trans* community, the enactment of the country’s first law to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation paved the way for continued advances for the LGBT community over the next three decades. Though many states have passed similar bills since 1982, sexual orientation discrimination is still not outlawed in many parts of the country and no federal law has yet to be enacted to protect LGBT people from discrimination.”
Reaction: I fortunately live in Pennsylvania where anti-discrimination laws are practiced. Although not everywhere in Pennsylvania will respect the gender on your ID until you're signing out and you have to grit your teeth through the process because if your legal name is Jacob, and your ID says X, they're going to check the “M” and not the “X” box because of how stupid the system is here these days. If they were anything like Philly (the state's better ½), then they'd already know how to treat a transgender gender neutral person like me who is non-binary, gender fluid and agender (gender nonconforming).
Quote: “This post is part of a series of posts highlighting LGBT history in the workplace and in the government in celebration of LGBT History Month 2017”
Reaction: Well, nobody in my area unfortunately wants to practice the LGBT rights of my state, but if you lookup Lambda Legal's website, you'll find the laws for your area or any area you want to research there. If you're in distress and are LGBT, contact the Trevor Project @ 866.488.7386 or just need transgender resources or are transgender and in distress, you can call the Trans Lifeline @ (877) 565-8860. I found those numbers on a quick search on a search engine like Bing or Google.
Also, please note that none of this is sponsored content. I do not have deals with any of the crisis resources I've shared nor do I have any deals with the people who wrote the original article. Please see my cited source below for the original article. My reactions/responses are just responses about how I feel in the midst of the moment about reading the original article and how I relate to it in my locale.
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Bibliography:
“NGLCC | LGBT History: The Country’s First LGBT Anti-Discrimination Bill | Nglcc.org.” Nglcc.org, nglcc.org/blog/lgbt-history-countrys-first-lgbt-anti-discrimination-bill.
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