I think we're talking two different sides of the issue. You are correct... this legislation deals with FIRING.

Then again, one should always be prepared for the possiblity of being fired. I was fired from a great job I'd had for over seven years. That was over four years ago, and I STILL haven't fully recovered, financially speaking. LOTS of people have to deal with that reality in our system. You pick up and move on.

Also, I live in a "right to work" state... which basically means you can be fired for no particular reason at all, regardless of who you are.
That being said, I think if you get fired "just because you're one of them thar queers" well then, you should have legal recourse.
But, like the rest of us, you're still gonna have to get your ass out there and find another job sooner or later.

FX and I were talking more the HIRING side of the issue. I don't think there's many circumstances under which it would boil down to either getting that job from Gay Bob and Gene, or Earl the Neo-Nazi, and starving.

The fact of the matter is, I do think privately held businesses should be allowed to hire, or not hire, whoever they damn well please... and the market will weed them out. I mean, think about it... what gay man is going to apply at Earl's business.... or what conservative born-again is going to apply at Bob and Gene's business... to begin with anyway?

I have a friend who over the years has been let go from and called back to the Boeing Aircraft Company several times. And he's a straight white guy.
He just now, finally, has enough seniority to be fully secure and not have to worry about his company's whacko binge-and-purge hiring practices.

As an engineer, he's dealt with that many times in the 20 years or so he's been out of college. Companies downsize or upsize with no warning.. or just plain go belly up.

It's a reality many people deal with in this country. I've gone from wearing a tie and making pretty good money to weeding a vinyard on my hands and knees in the dirt for minimum wage in only a few months' time because of life's unpredicatable circumstances. And, I've cycled back into a pretty damn nice job.

The point is, never count on anything and stay sharp. I get tired of hearing people bitch and moan about job circumstances... things are tough all over.

there is a difference between a business firing (or laying off) for business/financial reasons - and because they have found out the employee is gay

Yup. It's not everything we wanted, but it's something.

Progress is slow and incremental. But this is progress, so I'll take it.

Not at all. I don't hate bigots.
People are free to be bigots if they choose.

I disagree. Nothing here impinges on either of these rights. What religious people choose to believe, and who they choose to associate with, is still intact under ENDA.

If people could just act professional in the workplace, and save their intolerance for after hours, this wouldn't even be an issue.

By what crazy standard? We clearly qualify under all of them.

A number of studies have found links. Insisting on waiting until ALL the science is in is just a stall tactic, like the one the cigarette companies used in saying their products are perfectly safe.

Yes, the freedom to destroy a person's livelihood because you find them icky is quite a blow, I am sure.

Hee hee. I will choose to take that as a compliment.
Stay safe over there.

I'll tell you a secret. That's all employers are hoping to GET out of diversity training.

They know, same as you and I know, that it's not reasonable (or in many cases even possible) to undo a lifetime of intolerance with two hours of powerpoint slides.

They are just covering their own butts in case of a lawsuit.

We agree yet again, Mr. Mouse.

The only things an employer should be concerned about regarding an employee are things that directly impact the employee's ability to fulfill the requirements of the position.

Who I sleep with and what I smoke on the weekend are not relevant.