Utah becomes 18th state to pass sexual orientation, gender identity anti-discrimination laws

passing legislation preventing employers from discriminating against potential or current employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Gov. Gary Herbert signed the bill that will amend the Utah Antidiscrimination Act. The law does have some exceptions when it comes to defining which employers are required to adopt this law; due to the high population of Mormon residents, the bill exempts religious organizations and institutions from having to instate anti-discrimination practices, despite the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ stated support of the anti-discrimination law. (The law also exempts the Boy Scouts of America, though their website only lists the organization as a “values-based youth development organization” and not strictly a religious organization.) The passing of this anti-discrimination law is great news for employees in Utah, though until the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission formally recognizes sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes under federal law, there is some risk of this newly signed law being overturned in the future, putting these same individuals back at risk of losing their jobs. (An example of this recently occurred in Kansas, as the state’s governor overturned anti-discrimination laws that were created via Executive Order by a previous governor; those laws had been in effect for eight years before being revoked by the current administration.) The EEOC has recently gotten involved in a few lawsuits related to the treatment of transgender employees and job applicants. It is not clear if or when gender identity or sexual orientation might become protected under federal law.]]>