Non-Non-Discrimination Laws, What!?!?! Yep, you heard that right.

Nope, the title isn't a typo. We really are talking about Non-Non-Discrimination Laws. This has actually been a common fight in US cities and states. Even after the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality (Obergefell v Hodges) on June 26, 2015.

a number of states that still lack clear, fully-inclusive non-discrimination protections for LGBT people, meaning that despite the ruling, LGBT Americans can get legally married but still be at risk of being denied services for who they are or risk being fired simply for getting married and wearing their wedding ring to the office the next day.
-Human Rights Campaign

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Think about this for a moment, at the time of this ruling there were 64% of ALL states lacking the protections needed for someone who takes advantage of marriage equality. What good is this Supreme Court ruling when this is still the case? It only makes sense to follow this up with some form on non-discrimination protections, right?

So now lets take a look at where we are almost a year and a half later after the June 2015 ruling.

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We can see that there has been a little progress with two more states and District of Columbia passing Employment non-discrimination laws for LGBT members, with a couple other states enacting similar protections for sexual orientation but not gender identity (i.e. transgender people, non-binary people, etc.) 28 states haven't passed any non-discrimination laws with 3 going so far as to prevent passage of such laws. (See the yellow signs on the map above)

You heard that right folks. Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina have enacted non-non-discrimination laws preventing (or repealing) the state itself as well as all counties and cities within the states from passing laws to protect the LGBT community. Typically these laws are phrased as "Religious Freedom Acts" or "Bathroom Bills", framing their argument such that Christians are under attack and need protection, or implying that allowing transgender people to use appropriate bathroom puts women or children at risk of predators.

It should also be mentioned that Mike Pence, the current Presidential running make of Donald Trump, was one of the first governors to pass a "Religious Freedom Bill" that essentially legalized discrimination against LGBT people. The backlash was so intense, with major business like Salesforce and Angie's List to either stop expansions or pull out of Indiana all together as well as the threat from the NCAA to move the Final Four tournament games that were scheduled there. Similar backlash is still taking place in North Carolina that includes the removal of the NBA All-Star game from the state, business leaving or limiting travel to there, and many NCAA schools not allowing their teams to travel in to this state.

First it needs to be mentioned that Christians are NOT under attack. Every LGBT protection law has exemptions for churches themselves, only effecting secular matters such as employment, housing, social services and businesses (whose licenses are issue by the state.) The other caveat that they never say, but strongly infer, is that transgender people are predators, which is absolutely false. Yet this fear-mongering has manipulated voters to pass such ridiculous non-non-discrimination laws or to repeal enacted LGBT protections, which happened in my own city.

These banners and signs were placed all over town to manipulate many who had no idea what they were voting on or the implications of repealing the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) protections. Not only are there ABSOLUTELY NO FACTS to back up this so called "problem," the arguments flew about protecting women and children. Funny how campaigns such as these in many cities including Springfield, MO, Houston, TX and Fayetteville, AR all had irrational fears of transwomen using the women's bathroom, but never about transmen using the men's bathroom. During this period, I was honestly afraid to use public restrooms for fear or somebody causing a scene when I just needed to pee!
These sort of "Bathroom Bills" have been going through various levels of legislature for some years, even predating the Marriage Equality decree. Transgender people and allies have started campaigns to counter these ridiculous laws.

Here in the U.S, Michael C. Hughes is popularizing WeJustNeedToPee. “Do I look like I belong in women’s facilities? Republicans are trying to get legislation passed that would put me there based on my gender at birth,” he wrote in a post. “Transgender people don’t go to the bathroom to peep or to harm anyone in any way. WeJustNeedToPee @OccupyPotty TransLivesMatter.”
-Source

Another campaign in Canada

in response to a growing number of trans people having started posting selfies taken in public restrooms to show how ludicrous these laws are. Brae Carnes launched PlettPutMeHere in response to Senator Don Plett, who introduced anti-trans legislation in the Canadian parliament.
-Source

Honestly think about this for a minute. Not only are these bathroom bills inciting those ignorant of the transgender community to believe that all trans people are predators, but they also want people who look like women to go into the men's room and vice versa. Do you really think this is going to make people feel more comfortable? How about the massively increased chance of violence against trans people who already have enough issues with an attempted suicide rate of over 40%, compared to 5% of the general population. (Statistic Source)

Conclusion

Do we really need to have this same fight about equal rights time after time? We've been through this with Irish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Native American, Women, African American (and more), with the latest being the LGBT community. Arguments against equal rights are always based out of hate, fear or ignorance!
The very founding of our country was upon life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Respect for others pursuing these fundamental rights, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity shouldn't need to be argued.

I beg you, if you see so called "Religious Freedom" and/or "Bathroom Bills" going through your city, county or state legislatures, or coming up for vote, look closely into what they really are; a veiled attempt at a Non-Non-Discrimination Law against the LGBT community.

Image Sources:
Stop Discrimination
2015 Non-Discrimination Law Map
2016 Non-Discrimination Law Map
Bathroom Banner 1
We Just Need to Pee Campaign