Earlier this week, the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to endorse any and all legislation that protects LGBT employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation. The national attorneys' organization not only asserted officially that LGBT citizens "have a human right to be free from discrimination, threats and violence," but also condemned any measures that suggest the contrary.
According to the resolution, the association has attempted to broaden its reach in advocating for LGBT rights, urging "the governments of countries where such discriminatory laws, regulations, and practices exist" to repeal them as quickly as possible. But the resolution also brought the focus back to the U.S., where there are currently no legal protections in place to ensure that LGBT Americans cannot be fired from their jobs (or evicted from their homes, or refused service in privately owned establishments) strictly on the basis of their sexual orientation.
This is not the first step the American Bar Association has taken in favor of LGBT rights. The organization's more than 40,000 members have already endorsed anti-LGBT-bullying campaigns and passed a resolution to limit "LGBT panic" legal defenses. Additionally, the association proudly boasts a program to assist LGBT lawyers through different phases of their careers.
(h/t Think Progress)
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