Same-sex marriage will probably soon be legal here in Wyoming. But gay people can still be fired simply for being gay.
While Wyoming has laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, sex, race, or national origin, the state has nothing on the books preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation. Laramie Representative Cathy Connolly has been leading the charge to change that. She says Wyoming’s equal employment opportunity office, which deals with workplace discrimination, can’t accept complaints dealing with sexual orientation.
“We know that state agency has turned away people. They say, ‘we are really sorry that has happened to you, but an employer can discriminate based on sexual orientation.”
Connolly has introduced an anti-discrimination bill in the Legislature every year for the past six years, but it has failed to pass.
She says she is optimistic about this year’s session.