Employment Discrimination in State and Local Government: The Lesbian and Gay Male Experience

In recent years, a number of state, county, and municipal governments have been confronted with demands to add the category “sexual orientation” to their employment discrimination ordinances and policies. This paper focuses on the experience of state and local governments in responding to these demands in both the legal and political arenas. The paper discusses the legal arguments that have been used to resist and advance equal employment opportunity in the public sector for lesbians and gay men. We pay particular attention to hiring, firing, and employment benefit issues. We conclude that despite some success in getting state and local governments to adopt non-discrimination policies, enforcement of those policies in meaningful ways is not effective or even present.