A bill that would expand existing workplace nondiscrimination rules to encompass perceived or actual gender identity was advanced by the Hawaii Senate Judiciary Committee this week in a 3-2 vote.The bill, HB 546, was passed by the House at the beginning of March and would prohibit discrimination "on the basis of gender identity and expression as a public-policy matter and specifically with regard to employment."
Protections in public accommodations already exist for trans Hawaiians. Workplace protections also exist, but this has been achieved through rulings made by the state Civil Rights Commission and not, as yet, state law.
In making this addition to the statutory ban on workplace discrimination, it is hoped that employers will have a clearer picture of their responsibilities where trans employees are concerned...
It's amazing, isn't it? There are two out of five committee votes against an employment antidiscrimination measure when the protections already exist by rulings of Hawaii's Civil Rights Commission.
Transgender community has a lot of education work, lobbying work, and direct action work to do in the U.S. towards ending housing, employment, and public accommodation discrimination based on gender identity and expression. Two votes against an existing civil rights protection are two votes too many, and speaks to the work we in trans community have to do into the future.