QuoteRespondents report job loss, school suspensions due to sexual orientation.
Discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people is rampant in Jacksonville, according to a first-of-its-kind set of studies commissioned by the city.
More than 40 percent of the 235 GLBT people surveyed have experienced recent problems, whether related to jobs, housing or other arenas in the city. Yet, according to a second survey, most Jacksonville residents believe such discrimination is wrong.
The studies are believed to be the first recent formal inquiries into discrimination against sexual minorities in Jacksonville. They were performed by the University of North Florida and the Jacksonville Community Council Inc. at the request of the city's Human Rights Commission,
Jacksonville has long been considered a conservative city - in part because, unlike every other major city in Florida, it does not include sexual orientation or gender identity in its discrimination ordinance. But advocates in the gay community say the very existence of the study is a positive step.
full article: http://www.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-03-12/story/i_never_knew_people_could_be_so_hateful
OH WOW, HOW UNSHOCKING!
It pisses me off.
How freaking hard would it be to add gender identity to the discrimination ordinance. I can't see how the GLBT community would loose that fight. The proper legal attack and it would eventually wind to a court high enough to demand it's addition. If the majority of people in JAX think this discrimination is wrong then public opinion should be for it.
My issue here is not with the context of the discussion, rather with the wording of the paragraph:
Quote
More than 40 percent of the 235 GLBT people surveyed have experienced recent problems, whether related to jobs, housing or other arenas in the city.
Well hi. We're amidst the worst economic situation in a generation or more. *Of course* they've experienced "recent" problems relating to jobs and housing. Haven't we all?
Why not "experienced recent discrimination"? Everyone's having "difficulties."
More phenomenal journalism from the T-U.
My cousin is gay... I hate that guy.
It doesn't sound like a scientific survey and is probably not a good tool to use in this debate. It could backfire against those that use it. I have neighbors that are gay and work with quite a few gay people and I don't see or hear any discriminatory actions, albeit I admit that I am not around all the time and that this is just an observation.
What's up with people thinking that Douglas Anderson is "The Gay School"? People have asked my sister at work if I was gay, simply because that was my high school. WTF. That was my high school because art is what I want to do. Is Arts synonymous with Gay now? Like everyone else has been saying, this little tidbit is unsurprising, to say the least.
I would hate to deny a real problem but this particular piece of journalism is begging for ridicule. It sounds to me like a case of "I was laid off because I am ... (insert minority here)" when everyone is being laid off and scared for their jobs right now. The fact is that correlation does not imply causation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation) Just because you're gay, and you got (laid off, suspended, not hired ... whatever) doesn't mean it happened because you were gay.
Now if your boss has been making snide comments for months in advance ... that's different. *and probably should have been reported before you were fired.
Quote from: Deuce on March 12, 2009, 10:08:23 AM
How freaking hard would it be to add gender identity to the discrimination ordinance. I can't see how the GLBT community would loose that fight. The proper legal attack and it would eventually wind to a court high enough to demand it's addition.
I don't want to bog this thread down with a constitutional law discussion, but basically there is zero constitutional protection for sexual orientation. If a city or state wants to openly discriminate against homosexuals (and if the state constitution and statutes are silent) then it's perfectly legal as long as the government can advance virtually any argument in support of their discrimination. It's a very loose legal standard.
Your only real bets are either getting Congress or a state legislature to pass an anti-discrimination statute - but if they refuse, there's basically no legal challenge you can mount.
stephen I will concede is that it is impossible to put yourself in others shoes in these situations. I've had friends (black) who have been in exactly the same situations as me and came out with completely opposite perceptions of what just happened.
The issue this causes here is Intent vs Perception. This causes the same issue as with hate crime and sexual harassment legislation. There could be no intent by the "defendant" to be racist or sexist, but if it was perceived as such then it was racist or sexist regardless.
I try not to subscribe to prejudices and hate. But I also think it's a pretty suckya$$ world we live in when political correctness has pushed us to the point that no matter what I do I have to be ultra carful just incase the other person was raised with ultra sensitive prejudices against me.
Quote from: Shwaz on March 13, 2009, 05:57:16 PM
My cousin is gay... I hate that guy.
??????? Maybe he hates you too for being straight (keep your thoughts to yourself?). I don't agree with the lifestyle, but I won't hate anyone for the way they are; I've had, and have gay friends; don't agree with what they do (marriage, etc.), but they are o.k. in my book as long as they don't parade their lifestyle around kids, don't thrust what they do on others, and keep it behind closed doors; and that goes for everyone really...why kiss, hug, and bump and grind out in public when you have a house to do it in?
As far as the thread issue is concerned, I've not seen any discrimination against gays involving housing, but it could be that there are more disapprovals across the board, not only for gays, but everyone because of the economy.
Heights Unknown
The fact that this is a flawed "study" say nothing about the posters on this board. They are simply observing the obvious. No one is denying that discrimination is occurring, but this "study" is not a useful tool one way or another. Try not to make this personal.
Yes, the reporting was incomplete. But if you look at the study, I believe this is it:
http://www.jcci.org/Forward/issue%20forums/glbt%20issue%20forum.pdf
I think that you will find that it consist mainly of subjective points of view of the participants. I'm not sure that this was meant to be a "scientific" sampling but seems to be a fact finding study to give a "snapshot" of where the GLBT community stands in Jax. This is where I think that at least the reporting here is "flawed". I suppose that we can all draw our own conclusions, based on our opinion of what legal protections should be provided to gay and transgender behavior.
WTF? Hell y'all this ain't even close to discrimination... You want to see REAL discrimination just get on here and announce that your a member of First Baptist Church Downtown and you love all the things the church has done for the city.
Worse? Oh yeah, next time you fill out one of those, "You don't have to answer this demographic information but if you don't your file will be incomplete forever..." type of forms at work, school, mortgage, census etc... Where it says race, enter the words "CONFEDERATE AMERICAN". Then just sit back and watch the fireworks.
What really pisses me off is that a good deal of the GLBT communities don't have the ?? (Bet you thought I was gonna say something else right?) guts to "play the game". I'm not gay, more like a Lesbian trapped in a mans body. But many long time friends are gay. You REALLY want to have some fun set some Jethro Bodine sucker up for a big public fall. "Help him pick a fuss with a gay friend at the bar then introduce him to the gay body builder - boxer. I'm not suggesting violence, it's just a scream to watch the Jethro melt down at the thought. In another case a friend who often plays the fem de fem role, met another friend (a REAL Jethro type) and went to shake hands... Well the old hippie had got to him first and the fem friend, ignored the hand and planted a huge kiss on ol Jethro! FUNNY AS HELL! He's still somewhere in Central Florida washing his face with a Brillo pad.
Bottom line, life's too short to sweat the small stuff, so have some fun... Need ideas? Practical Jokes R Us.
OCKLAWAHA
QuoteMaybe he hates you too for being straight (keep your thoughts to yourself?
I thought that this was a pretty obvious joke... just like the article.
I have many co-workers / friends that are gay / lesbian. On the flip side I have co-workers also G&L that are not friends, or friendly or hard workers that may keep their job (regardless of poor performance) because of their sexual orientation. How many company's are afraid to fire their GLT employees because of the possible discrimination law suit?