Florida needs to stop stalling, follow Supreme Court’s lead on LGBTQ rights
Florida’s LGBTQ community is celebrating, and with good reason. The U.S. Supreme Court did what the state Legislature has refused to do.
It ruled that employers can’t discriminate against workers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The decision was a surprise Pride
Month gift for gay and transgender people. Many observers thought the conservative court majority would rule the 1964 Civil Rights Act did not cover LGBTQ workers. But the 6-3 ruling — bravo, justices! — showed how perceptions about LGBTQ rights have quickly evolved.
That’s good news if you believe nobody should be fired for being gay. It’s bad news for a lot of Florida lawmakers once again finding themselves on the wrong side of history, as they have with same-sex marriage and adoption by gay couples.
The state’s GOP-led Legislature has clung to the notion that LGBTQ people aren’t entitled to the same rights as other Americans. They are not alone in that view.
Florida is one of more than two dozen states without statewide laws that fully protect LGBTQ people from discrimination. In hopes of rectifying that, a bill known as the Florida Competitive Workforce Act was first introduced in 2009.
It would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to Florida’s 1992 Civil Rights Act, which bans discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations.
Public acceptance of gay rights has blossomed since the FCWA was first proposed.
A Public Religion Research Institute poll last year found that 69% of Americans support discrimination protections for LGBTQ people.
More than 450 businesses and 11 Fortune 500 companies, including Disney, Darden, Wells Fargo and Marriott, came out in favor the FCWA. They know the bill would make the state more attractive to businesses and workers looking to relocate here.
The bill even gained bipartisan backing. This year’s House version had nine Republican co-sponsors.
No matter. The House and Senate bills didn’t even get hearings before dying in committees.
After 11 years, it’s obvious GOP legislators have no problem ignoring what most people want. They will ignore what most businesses want.
Will they keep ignoring what the U.S. Supreme Court wants?
“Without a doubt, this has been an amazing, watershed moment,” Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith said. But, she added, “We want people to understand that this does not in any way reduce the need for the state Legislature and the governor to act.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order last year reaffirming Florida’s nondiscrimination protections. He left out sexual orientation and gender identity. It was not an oversight.
After the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, gay rights groups said Gov. Rick Scott promised them he would extend employment protections to LGBTQ people. It never happened.
It’s been up to individual counties and municipalities to enact their own nondiscrimination ordinances. About 60% of Floridians are currently protected thanks to mayors and local commissions. But our state’s most powerful lawmakers can barely pay lip service to the topic.
DeSantis has been mum on the Supreme Court decision, though his spokesperson said Florida will abide by federal law.
That’d be a start, but Monday’s ruling focused on workplace discrimination. That’s why as celebratory as gay rights groups are, they know the big party is still on hold. There is still nothing on the books preventing LGBTQ people from being denied equal access to comforts like restaurants and necessities like housing.
An Urban Institute study found that housing providers regularly withheld rental information from gay men. They also quoted gay men yearly rent costs that were $272 higher than they quoted heterosexual men.
“It is now the law of the land in all 50 states that you cannot fire or refuse to hire someone for being gay or transgender. That is huge,” said Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith D-Orlando. “But what it doesn’t have an immediate impact on is other categories where we know discrimination does exist, such as housing, public accommodations, health care and other areas.”
DeSantis could issue an executive order declaring all the state’s nondiscrimination laws must include LGBTQ people. Don’t hold your breath.
The FCWA will certainly return to next year’s legislative docket. This week’s ruling will give proponents valuable ammunition for that fight.
The three dissenting justices said questions about the 1964 Civil Rights Act should be decided by legislative action, not courts. But even in his dissenting opinion, Brett Kavanaugh expressed empathy for the opposing argument.
“Millions of gay and lesbian Americans have worked hard for many decades to achieve equal treatment in fact and in law,” he wrote. “They have advanced powerful policy arguments and can take pride in today’s result.”
This is no longer 1964, when homosexuality was considered a psychiatric disorder and criminalized in many states. The sweeping civil rights laws enacted that year should apply to all Americans.
Passing the FCWA would do that in our state. With Monday’s decision, the Supreme Court might just drag Florida lawmakers kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
Then it would really be time for all Floridians to celebrate.