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There is no Utah law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but Salt Lake City recently passed such an ordinance.

The Salt Lake City Antidiscrimination law goes into effect on April 2, 2010.

Mayor Ralph Becker of Salt Lake City signed an ordinance that makes it illegal to

Under the law, an employer may not commit discrimination against employees or applicants based on the employee’s sexual orientation, including gay, lesbian, homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual.

The law prohibits discrimination in employment decisions including:

• Hiring
• Discharge
• Promotion
• Demotion
• Termination
• Compensation
• Terms of Employment
• Working Conditions 

The law also prohibits employers from harassing any employee based on his or her sexual orientation, and from retaliating against employees who file complaints.

All of the above protections also apply to (more…)

Both the US House and the Senate have tabled ENDA for the present. Efforts to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act will clearly continue in 2010, but success is far from certain.

In early December 2009, the House Education and Labor Committee failed to reschedule a cancelled November markup session for the bill, also referred to as H.R. 3017.

ENDA would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation nationwide. While a number of states including California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois currently have statutes that prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, there is no ban under federal law.

Key issues under discussion include the focus on attorney fees and whether victims of job bias could seek relief under ENDA and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

At least some members of Congress are optimistic that ENDA (more…)

Employment discrimination based on sexual orientation may well become illegal under federal law, if the ENDA bill currently being debated in Congress is passed.

Experts are predicting that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act or ENDA has an excellent chance of being signed into law within the next 12 months.

ENDA was introduced in the House by Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts as H.R. 3017 in June 2009. More than 150 representatives have co-sponsored the bill.

Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon introduced it in the Senate as S. 1584 where it garnered 39 co-sponsors.

The bill is currently being debated in the House Education and Labor Committee. President Barack Obama has expressed strong support for ENDA and urged Congress to pass it.

While a number of states including Washington, New Jersey, Illinois and California have laws that prohibit employment discrimination against homosexuals, there is no federal law at this point. In some states such as Oklahoma, an employer can legally pay homosexuals less than their heterosexual coworkers. An employer can even refuse to hire an applicant who is homosexual. ENDA would change that.

A number of gay rights organizations are opposed to ENDA (more…)