Subject: NGLTF Report Examines Equality Across USA
From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2000 18:13:20 -0500

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NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE
PRESS RELEASE

Contact:
David Elliot, Communications Director
202-332-6483 ext. 3303
800-757-6476 pager
[email-masked]

http://www.ngltf.org
1700 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC
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NONDISCRIMINATION LAWS NOW COVER 60 
MILLION AMERICANS, NEW REPORT FINDS

From small towns to large cities, gay, lesbian, bisexual and 
transgendered people are now turning to local jurisdictions for justice

Jan. 3, 2000 - From the tiny town of Sorrento, Maine (population: 355)
to New York City (population: 7.3 million), more than 37 million
Americans now live in towns, cities or counties with laws banning
discrimination based on sexual orientation. Add in the number of
Americans who live in states with similar laws, and the number grows
to 60 million Americans, according to a new, comprehensive report
released today by the Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force. This is a sharp increase from 1990, when less than
15 million Americans lived in states with such nondiscrimination
laws, and about 18 million lived in cities banning sexual
orientation discrimination.

The NGLTF Policy Institute report, "Legislating Equality: A Review of
Laws Affecting Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered People in
the United States," provides the most extensive description to date
of local, county and state laws addressing GLBT equality.
This report is an invaluable tool for activists, journalists
and policymakers who require reliable facts on laws affecting
GLBT people but lack the time, resources or desire to conduct
primary research. The Policy Institute is a think tank dedicated
to research, policy analysis, strategy development and coalition
building to advance the equality and understanding of GLBT people.

"At the dawn of the 21st Century, the strength of the GLBT movement
is at the state and local level," said Urvashi Vaid, director of
the Policy Institute of NGLTF. "This demonstrates the power and
success of local organizing, and it underscores a sharp contrast
between what is happening in towns and cities where people live and
what is happening in Congress, where conservative leaders
repeatedly have turned their backs on GLBT equality."

*****Attention editors, reporters and producers: "Legislating Equality"
is available for download at www.pfaw.org/pub.html. To order a review
copy, please call the NGLTF communications department at 202-332-6483.
Copies are available to the general public for free via download, or 
for $10 via mail order. To purchase a copy,
please call 202-332-6483, ext. 3205.

"Legislating Equality" examines the status of anti-discrimination laws
in all 50 states and 236 towns, cities and counties. Among its findings:

****Three counties, 20 cities and one state (Minnesota) prohibit
discrimination based on gender identity in private employment.
Yet 95 percent of Americans do not live in jurisdictions that 
ban gender identity-based discrimination.

****More than 100 cities and 18 counties prohibit discrimination
based on sexual orientation in private employment. The average size
of a city with a nondiscrimination ordinance dropped from 362,696
in the 1970s to 225,541 today, reflecting the reality that more
small and mid-sized cities are adopting nondiscrimination ordinances. 

****Thirty-six counties and 141 cities have ordinances banning
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in public employment,
while 20 counties and 108 cities ban discrimination in public
accommodations.

Vaid said "Legislating Equality" dismantles the myth that GLBT
equality is a concept known only to cities such as San Francisco
or New York. "In fact, it is the residents and activists in the
cities, towns and counties of middle America who are leading the
way," Vaid said. "Transgender people are protected from job
discrimination in Louisville, Kentucky, and Iowa City, but not yet 
in New York City. Vermont has recognized that same-sex couples are
entitled to the same benefits as married couples, but Massachusetts
and California have not. The truth is that the notion of GLBT equality
has widespread support in the American heartland."

Vaid said that local activists are to be credited for the fact that
hundreds of cities, counties and some states are more cognizant
of the discrimination and violence that GLBT people face than most
presidential candidates and members of Congress. "The U.S. public
overwhelmingly supports equal rights and anti-discrimination
protections for lesbians and gay men, and this support has increased
markedly during the decade of the 1990s," Vaid said. "For example, 70 
percent of Americans in 1999 supported the right of gays and lesbians
to serve in the military, up from 55 percent in 1992. And 49 percent
of Republicans support anti-discrimination laws for gay men and
lesbians, compared with 42 percent who are opposed."

"Support for GLBT equality is solid in middle America," Vaid added.
"Presidential candidates who oppose anti-discrimination protections
are out of touch with the views of a solid majority of the U.S. public."

"Legislating Equality" comes on the heels of "Capital Gains and Losses:
A State By State Review of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and
HIV/AIDS Related Legislation in 1999." That report tracked 474
GLBT- and HIV/AIDS-related bills in the nation’s 50 state legislatures
and the District of Columbia during the past year.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Founded in 1973, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force works to eliminate
prejudice, violence and injustice against gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgendered people at the local, state and national level. As part of a
broader social justice movement for freedom, justice and equality, NGLTF is
creating a world that respects and celebrates the diversity of human
expression and identity where all people may fully participate in society.

_______________________________________________________________________________________
This message was issued by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Communications Department.  If you have a question regarding this post, please
direct it to the contact at the top of this message.

To reach the NGLTF Communications Department at NGLTF, please call David
Elliot, Communications Director, at 202-332-6483 x3303 or pager 800-757-6476.
 
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