Text of CA HR 20 (2009)

BILL NUMBER: HR 20 INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Eng AUGUST 19, 2009 Relative to employment discrimination. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST WHEREAS, The Legislature prohibits discrimination against individuals on the basis of actual or perceived sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity; and WHEREAS, California has led the nation by passing comprehensive prohibitions against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and WHEREAS, Only 12 states currently have the requisite protections in place to shield persons in the United States from invidious employment discrimination, in both the private and public sectors, that is based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and WHEREAS, Nineteen states currently have no restrictions at all regarding employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and WHEREAS, The policy of the federal government for over a decade has prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation for federal employees; and WHEREAS, No federal law consistently and expressly protects persons in the United States from invidious workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and WHEREAS, The federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009, a proposed bill (H.R. 3017 and S. 1584), would expressly extend federal employment discrimination protections, which currently prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, military service, and genetic information, to sexual orientation and gender identity; and WHEREAS, The federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009 would prohibit public and private employers, employment agencies, and labor unions from using an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity as the basis for employment decisions, such as hiring, firing, promotion, or compensation; and WHEREAS, Recent polls show that persons in the United States support equal employment opportunities for lesbian and gay individuals by a margin of nine to one; and WHEREAS, The federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act has been debated in the United States Congress for over 15 years; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Assembly expresses its support of the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009, prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and respectfully urges the United States Congress to pass the act and the President of the United States to sign it; and be it further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the United States Secretary of Labor.