Democrats propose bill to add sexual orientation to non-discrimination policy

UNC has made efforts to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ employees, and Democrats at the N.C. General Assembly are looking to follow suit.

Last week, Sen. Josh Stein, D-Wake, introduced N.C. Senate Bill 544, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s employee non-discrimination policy.

Four Democratic state representatives sponsored a companion bill in the House.

Advocates of the bills acknowledge they likely won’t pass, given a lack of support in the legislature for similar bills in previous years.

Jen Jones, spokeswoman for Equality N.C., said introducing the bills will at least help raise awareness of the problems LGBTQ employees face.

North Carolina is one of 21 states that does not prohibit discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Jones said.

But UNC includes some of these protections in its own non-discrimination policy.

Jeff Hirsch, UNC law professor, said that even though UNC is a public institution funded by the state, the University is allowed to establish some of its own policies.

But he said UNC’s autonomy regarding employee regulations is not absolute.

“If the state wanted to, they could say, ‘We don’t like your sexual orientation protection’ and pass a law saying (UNC) can’t include that,” he said.

Terri Phoenix, director of UNC’s LGBTQ Center, said the University’s non-discrimination statement does not include equitable benefits for all employees.

LGBTQ faculty and staff still cannot add a same-sex partner to their employee health insurance or take family medical leave, Phoenix said.

Among its 15 peer institutions, UNC is one of only three schools, along with the University of Texas-Austin and the University of Virginia, that does not offer full benefits for LGBTQ employees, Phoenix said.

“It’s a big issue for us in terms of recruitment and retention,” Phoenix said.

Both the House and Senate bills are now in committee.

Legalizing same-sex marriage is an important issue for the LGBTQ community, but employment discrimination is causing the most harm, Jones said.

“We want to remind people in this state that you can easily be fired for being LGBTQ,” she said.

Equality N.C. has planned a Lobby Day on April 16, where supporters of the bill will go to Raleigh and urge legislators to adopt the added employee protections, Jones said.

“Our job will be to put a human face to this type of discrimination,” she said.

Contact the desk editor at state@dailytarheel.com.