April 24, 2007

Even Safe Havens Not Free From Discrimination

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, is a nice little atlantic beach town that I've had the pleasure of visiting several times. It is also very friendly to GLBT residents and visitors:

"There's a good sense of community here, both gay and straight," said a man who recently came out of the closet and moved to the town, long known across the East Coast for its gay enclave.

Gays and lesbians elsewhere aren't so lucky.


Across Delaware, incidents that gay and lesbian advocates say amount to discrimination occur every day.

A teacher asked to remove a rainbow sticker. A male nurse subjected to rude comments by a doctor. An office worker who watched as his openly gay supervisor was fired. There could be as many as 500 complaints each year in the workplace alone, according to one analysis.

Members of Delaware's gay community -- estimated at 24,000 -- hope they can sway Senate leadership this year by convincing a majority of Democrats in a key committee to sign on.

The bill would bar discrimination based on sexual orientation in such areas as housing, public accommodations, insurance and employment, putting Delaware in line with 17 other states, according to the civil rights organization The Human Rights Campaign of Washington, D.C.

You can bet the GLBT population of Rehoboth Beach will be keeping a close eye on events in Dover, the state capital, to see if the life they enjoy within the friendly confines of the city limits can be extended throughout the entire state.

1 comment:

  1. yeah, i livein delaware and rehoboth is good and newark (where the university is) and wilmington are considered to be apart of "the north" but once you go farther south than newark or into maryland, you are in the south. you'll see confederate flags and towns whose names reference the bible.

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