I hate to be that guy but straight people will also be protected because they also have a sexual orientation and could (hypothetically) be the subject of discrimination.https://twitter.com/metroweekly/status/951234962115776512 …
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I'm speaking mostly as a civil rights teacher in eastern Kentucky. Emphasizing the full scope really diminishes the initial gut-reaction hostility to these protections.
A lot of folks really have no idea how these laws work at all. All they see are headlines saying "law protects LGBT" and they think it is some kind of special treatment.
Yeah, I definitely remember a point when I was like, “Only describe things as providing sexual orientation protections,” bc, yes, that’s what they are (in that case). But, I think the purpose is to protect those who are most often discriminated against, so, it fits ...
I acknowledged in my thread that the practical effect is mostly one-sided, and it's not *wrong*, but it's not particularly helpful, either. Again, as an educator, not as somebody already hip to the efforts and the language.
Journalists also educate, and I’ve learned over time how overly legalistic language can decrease the knowledge people are taking away from articles — or even scare them away altogether. I think it’s a balancing act. Sometimes, you need to do both.
It seems pretty doable to write "Smallville passed a law saying that employers cannot discriminate based on sexual orientation. This means people cannot be fired because they are gay or because they are straight."
Thanks. I know. I've written about 3,000 articles doing so.
(Also, I literally wrote, "Sometimes, you need to do both," in the tweet to which you were replying.)
I guess I'm OK with criticizing *judicial opinions* that conflate such descriptions.
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