Just last week, Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law The Safe Place To Learn Act, also known as AB 394. Even though this California law is limited in scope and application to the public school sector, employers across the country should sit up and take note. The outpour of public reaction to AB 394 paints a dramatic picture of the diametrically opposed, and passionate viewpoints that people (i.e. your employees) have about sexual orientation and gender identity.
So let’s start with the basics. What’s AB 394 all about?
Supporters of the new law say that it’s designed to protect students in public schools, including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, from harassment and bullying at school. The new law requires anti-harassment training for students, parents, and teachers.
Those on the other side of the coin have a very different point of view. They see the law as an attack on their beliefs, religion and morals. A quick search of the web reveals countless blog posts and comments from objectors. A few of the tamer comments include:
“California conservatives won’t tolerate wide-scale denigration of their beliefs or the sacrifice of the traditional family on the altar of a pro-gay agenda. Practicing Christians (and Jews, and Muslims) won’t willingly attend classes that teach the one-sided ‘tolerance’ the left calls ‘fair.’” Excerpt from The Random Yak Blog.
The bill is not about safety. This bill is about sexual indoctrination and redefinition of gender.” Excerpt from San Fran. Bay Times Article (March 27, 2007)
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Workplace
Regardless of what side of the debate you’re on, HR and legal professionals should be watching this development closely. When it comes to human sexuality and gender, the tensions and emotions run deep … really deep. And your employees are only human. Each person brings his or her personal thoughts and beliefs to work each day.
It doesn’t take much of a stretch to recognize that the attitudes and opinions surrounding AB 394, extend to the debate over protections for sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace. Many of you have policies covering sexual orientation and gender identity, and many of you operate in locations where state law tacitly provides clear legal protections – ones much stronger than AB 394.
In other words, you need to contend with the fact that a significant portion of your workforce is morally, religiously or otherwise stalwartly opposed to anti-discrimination measures for employees who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. They actually take these legal and policy protections as an assault on their own liberties and belief systems.
Talk about a tough HR challenge.
And if you think that employees can have a civilized discussion about this stuff, think again. Any discussion that involves marital rights, gender roles, gay rights, religion and sexuality is bound to get heated – and dangerous. Each side firmly believes that the other is wrong. That’s a recipe that quickly escalates to righteous indignation, and ultimately, legal liability.
Employers Have to Set the Tone
California’s AB 394 discourse is not an isolated event that employers can or should ignore. The laws relating to gender identity and sexual orientation are shifting. In the last year alone, four states (Iowa, Colorado, Oregon, and Vermont) passed new laws expanding employment law protections to sexual orientation and gender identity. (NGAL Task Force State Map of Non-discrimination Laws). We’ve also witnessed progress (although slow) at the federal level with the Employment Nondiscrimination Act. (Want my prediction? When the Democrats take the White House in 2009, we’re going to soon see federal discrimination protections for sexual orientation and gender identity.)
What catches most employers off-guard is that they fail to really grasp how emotional these issues are for employees. They miss the signs of tension, or fail to give employees the right direction. The sad truth is that many employees just don’t get it – especially if they feel they can back their position up with religion. Your workers need to understand that there’s a time a place to voice their opinions about deeply held moral, religious, and political beliefs – but it ain’t at work.
It’s up to employers to set a proper and respectful tone. And this is where harassment training takes a front and center position. As with most anti-discrimination efforts, education is at the heart of real and long-lasting change. Employees need to understand that certain communications and behaviors are just not appropriate in the workplace. Period. And they also need to learn that there are serious consequences for choosing to cross the line.
Live in Reality
So – California leads the way, yet again, when it comes to harassment training and anti-discrimination protections. Love us for it, hate us for it, but live in reality when it comes to managing the practical fallout of a vicious civil rights debate that directly impacts your workforce.