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Written by WiG
Feb 9, 2012
Efforts to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity won endorsements in West Virginia from an influential bloc – labor.
Both the United Mine Workers of America and the AFL-CIO recently endorsed bills to amend the West Virginia Human Rights and Fair Housing acts to make it illegal to discriminate against LGBT workers, homeowners or renters.
“The labor movement and the civil rights movement certainly have a clear understanding of the need to always be vigilant of … anti-discriminatory practices and ensure that every worker, every citizen, is judged by the content of their character and not by any other issues that might surface, whether it be race, creed, color, religion or sexual preference,” said Larry Matheney, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO.
West Virginia AFL-CIO president Kenneth Perdue said some union members have been discriminated against because of their sexual orientation, including Sam Hall, a gay man who worked for Massey Energy and filed a harassment suit against the mining company.
Perdue said he'd be happy to speak with politicians to urge support for the legislation.
An anti-discrimination bill introduced last year faltered in the West Virginia House of Delegates. The state Senate has previously supported adding the protections to state law.
Fairness West Virginia, which held a lobbying day on Feb. 8, is the state civil rights group leading the campaign to amend the statutes. The group reported this week that it believes support for the bills is even higher than in 2010, when a poll showed about 61 percent of West Virginians support anti-discrimination legislation.
West Virginia and 28 other states do not protect workers from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
