If legislation passed today by a Senate committee makes it through the entire process, it will become illegal for any Louisiana businesses to refuse to hire, discharge or otherwise discriminate against, in terms of compensation and work conditions, employees or applicants for their “actual or perceived” sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
The far-reaching bill covers employers, employment agencies, labor organizations and training programs and addresses everything from contracts to requests for proposals.
Advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights held their breath after the Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations’ initial vote on SB 436 by Sen. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, ended with a 3-3 tie vote, which would have killed the bill.
Just a minute later, the committee voted to reconsider the bill, Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, changed her vote and the bill continued on its path to the full Senate. Barrow said she was conflicted on the vote, adding she was trying to balance her “personal beliefs with [her] responsibility as a lawmaker.”
Meanwhile, business interests opposing the bill were left disappointed.
Dawn Starns, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said her organization does not support the bill because it would create new causes of action for litigation against employers.
But Dylan Waguespack of Louisiana Progress argued that the bill is in line with national trends and similar state laws are becoming standard. Twenty states, the District of Columbia and the cities of Shreveport and New Orleans already have laws banning these types of discrimination, Waguespack noted.
Matt Patterson of Equality Louisiana, also testifying in support, noting the NCAA has begun using lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender non-discrimination laws as a requirement when evaluating cities as hosts of tournaments and events. Passing the bill would improve the state’s standing when competing for such events, he said.
While supporters and opponents of the bill largely focused on its business impacts, Carter, the bill’s author, and another committee member, Sen. Wesley Bishop, D-New Orleans, spoke passionately about moral necessity.
Bishop, who is black, said that as a member of a minority group protected under the discrimination law, he was obligated to expand that protection to as many groups as may need it. Carter drew the same parallel.
“If I close my eyes and listen to these arguments, it could be about any other member of one of these protected classes,” Carter said.
—Gordon Brillon
Jeremy Alford and Gordon Brillon will publish a daily update throughout the legislative regular session on Daily Report PM. Alford reports on Louisiana politics atLaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter or on Facebook. He can be reached atJJA@LaPolitics.com.
