Discrimination...

I talked about this a little bit yesterday, but today's leading articles took me right back into it.  Prejudice, discrimination & stigma are something gays & + people have to deal with as a reality.  The first article talked about how a Yemeni man was so affected by the stigma in his nation over HIV that he literally punished himself to death.  That's a nicer way of saying he killed himself.  Once he found out, most his friends, family & fellow villagers avoided him.  He locked himself in his home & refused food or water, later dying from these decisions.

Let's bring this closer to home.  A man in Virginia claims he was fired after he disclosed his HIV status to a higher-up.  He only revealed his status due to concerns he might miss work because of complications from his meds.  After 7 years as a manager for the company, he was let go due to "performance issues."  Maybe his performance did change, maybe it didn't.  Maybe Burger King just wanted rid of a HIV + manager.

In Connecticut, the State Supreme Court decided that employers could be held responsible for not protecting workers from anti-gay harassment.  This is a great thing, but remember it still happened.  Not only did it happen, it took going all the way to the top of the state legal system to get someone to tell these jerks their behavior wasn't acceptable.  They had to go that far to get employers to get off their asses to protect their employees.  So, while the court decision was good news, it still remains that it was necessary to have to go that far just to keep from being harassed, bullied & discriminated by fellow workers & management.  It's a mixed bag.

If you ever think that gays or + people are pushing too hard.  To hell with that.  They're just trying to get treated properly like anyone else.  Anyone that has a problem with that is just an ass, no matter what their politics, peers, religion or other ideology tells them.  All those things are just excuses for intolerable behavior.  If you're going to be a dick to someone, at least have nerve to do it just because you're an ass, not hide behind some religious/politcal BS.

Cya...