Virginia's Warner Gives Gays Protection in State Hiring

Governor Mark R. Warner, a Democrat, who is considering a run for president in 2008, made a change last week by placing a protection for gays regarding hiring in his new budget.

He also amended an executive order.

The governor's office, did in fact note that the budget included language banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Warner added "sexual orientation" to the nondiscrimination language in the $72 billion budget he offered to lawmakers last Friday.

The new policy was cheered by gay rights activists who say Virginia now joins state and local governments as well as businesses in banning discrimination against gays.

Still, others have taken extra steps.

On May 28, 1998 a federal executive order condemned discrimination on the job for sexual orientation.

But federal laws stated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) do not list any rules against discriminating regarding sexual orientation.

According to some research not much study has been done regarding this kind of discrimination.

A hotel manager lost his case regarding his sexual discrimination on the job in 2003 when he sent Christmas cards to employees which upper management deemed "filthy."

According to writer Ellen Alcorn, gay prospective employees should do their homework about a company they're applying to before, during, and after the application process.

"There should be diversity initiatives in the employee handbook and there should be hard evidence of this," she said. "After the interview, walk through the hallways. If you see predominantly white male pictures hanging on the walls, this might not be the most diverse company to work for."

In 1983 New York State established an anti-discrimination law regarding sexual orientation.

According to workplacefairness.org if you have experienced different treatment, harassment, or different in benefits you may have been discriminated against based on sexual orientation.

Many unions cover sexual orientation in their anti-discrimination rules.