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Legislation to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has a renewed chance of passage in the Delaware General Assembly.
As promised, prime sponsor Rep. Bill Oberle, R-Beecher’s Lot, introduced a bill Jan. 27 to add sexual orientation to the existing protections in the Delaware code. While the bill is similar to HB 99, a controversial bill Oberle has championed for five years, the new incarnation of the act includes additional language and surprisingly, a new bill number.
“I’m sure both sides are already out printing new bumper stickers but in the end the number is irrelevant. This is the time for this important bill. It is about equal rights not special rights,” said Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach. As a cosponsor of HB 36, Schwartzkopf expressed confidence the House will pass HB 36 and said he hopes the Senate leadership will finally grant the bill a fair hearing In each of the last two sessions, the House has approved the bill in close votes.
However, owing to unfavorable committee assignments, the Senate has yet to release the bill to the floor for a vote.
Oberle explained that HB 36 contains more language refining and defining its legislative scope and intent. “In discussing House Bill 99, I often found that I spent most of my time telling people what the bill wouldn’t do rather than what it did. I wanted to make this bill more specific to put to rest some concerns people wrongly had about what the bill would accomplish,” he said.
The law would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, public works contracting, public accommodations, housing and insurance. Religious groups would be largely exempt from the measure.
“Bill Oberle is the dedicated architect of this bill and together all of the sponsors have worked to address the concerns and alleviate the concerns of the opponents in this bill,” said Schwartzkopf.
Among the clarifications offered in HB 36 are assurances that it would not create any hiring preferences or quotas; that it would not permit inappropriate dress or behavior in the workplace; and that it would not require an employer to provide domestic partner benefits. The bill would also not apply to properties that are owner-occupied and contain no more than four rental units.
“We’re not breaking new ground. Many other political jurisdictions and private employers have adopted similar positions. It is my hope that HB 36 takes us to the next plateau where one’s sexuality plays no role in defining whether someone is employed, where one lives or where one can seek refuge. We are talking about protecting and assuring the very basic needs of life,” said Oberle.
Critics of the bill range from those who believe it would place an undue burden on small businesses to others who feel it extends protections to the homosexual community that could lead to gay marriage. Among the detractors of the law are activists of the Delaware Family Foundation located in Dagsboro. In lobbying against the legislation, the foundation’s board asserts, “We oppose this bill because it would classify those who experience homosexual and bisexual attractions as deserving extraordinary legal rights, encourage sex outside marriage and unhealthy life choices, and it would weaken marriage by leading to counterfeits to marriage such as ‘civil unions,’ ‘gay marriages,’ and the like.”
Proponents of the bill, including Milton resident Doug Marshall-Steele, disagree. He said “HB 36 is an extremely well written bill as it takes seriously previous objections against HB 99 and creates safeguards against all of the dangers which our opposition imagined. While knee-jerk antigay activists will perhaps rail against HB 36 also, wiser minds will see that this bill actually guarantees it will not be used in ways which anti-HB 99 persons feared.”
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