LGBT activist group Equality Louisiana will advocate for issues such as employment and housing protections for LGBT people, removing unconstitutional language, and protecting LGBT students who are bullied in school in this year’s legislative session according to its legislative agenda released this month.
Equality Louisiana, or EQLA, is a statewide coalition that collaborates and gathers information with activist groups across the state to decide what issues need to be brought to the forefront in state legislation.
The agenda states Rep. Karen St. Germain and House Speaker Pro Tempore Walt Leger plan to author an employment nondiscrimination act to protect LGBT people in the workplace.
Legislative assistant Michael Beyer said Rep. Jared Brossett is also working with EQLA to address housing discrimination against LGBT people.
Beyer said many LGBT groups do not focus as vehemently on housing and tend to direct most of their attention on employment, but it is an important issue.
“You shouldn’t be able to ask someone about their identity or charge them a different rate [in housing] because of their identity,” Beyer said.
Micah Caswell, graduate coordinator for the LGBTQ Project and Safe Space Campaign in the Office of Multicultural Affairs, said because more than half of University students live off campus, especially after their freshman year, fair housing is an issue everywhere.
The EQLA agenda also recognizes and supports Rep. Pat Smith’s bill to remove unconstitutional language from Louisiana’s “crimes against nature” statute as well as her anti-bullying and restorative justice bill. The protection and safety of children in schools is one of the focuses of EQLA’s agenda.
Smith has also actively worked to remove Louisiana’s unconstitutional anti-sodomy laws.
While many examples of discrimination come from the K-12 demographic, college campuses are not free from harassment, Beyer said.
EQLA president Tim West said most of the agenda was created by talking to groups and finding out what was important for them to see in this legislative session.
There has been a lot of opposition from anti-LGBT groups such as the Louisiana Family Forum, West said. Many legislators are tired of the pressure and one-track thinking of some groups, he said.
According to the Louisiana Family Forum website, the group believes children “need a mother and father who are married to one another” and sexuality is “a very wonderful and powerful treasure shared between a man and woman.”
The number of legislators supporting and authoring bills for this session may add to the success of the agenda, Beyer said. Another aspect that will affect this year’s results is the increased number of people who are coming out, he said.
Once something is more personal and a face can be put to an issue, it becomes more difficult for someone to tell their friend or neighbor that they should be fired or denied housing, Beyer said.
“We’re going to win this battle,” West said. “It may not be this year, but there are generations of people today who are not haters.”
“We’re going to win this battle. It may not be this year, but there are generations of people today who are not haters.”
Capital City Alliance board member Matthew Patterson speaks about marriage equality Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at the Metropolitan Community Church.
