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Friday, September 20, 2013

Gay and Lesbian Educators Remain Vulnerable to Bias | NEA Today

Gay and Lesbian Educators Remain Vulnerable to Bias | NEA Today:

Gay and Lesbian Educators Remain Vulnerable to Bias

September 20, 2013 by twalker  
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By Rita Zeidner
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision striking down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act DOMA promises many federal benefits to married gay and lesbian couples. But the landmark ruling does little to ensure a nondiscriminatory workplace for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender educators.
Nearly one out of three Americans lives in jurisdictions where same-sex marriage is legal. But many of the married gay and lesbian educators who live in states that are not gay-friendly are unlikely to take full advantage of their newly affirmed rights, including lower federal taxes. That’s because the sad reality in many schools is that an educator can still be fired once word gets out that they’re gay.
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Windsor v. U.S. nixed the most damning part of DOMA—the provision that limited the federal definition of marriage to “only a legal union between one man and one woman.” But there is still no federal law guaranteeing GLBT employees the same kind of workplace protections extended to other vulnerable workers.
In the past, we could count on Congress to ensure workplace protections by passing laws like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Age Discrimination Act. That’s no longer 

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