State Rep. Eric Johnson Files Employment Nondiscrimination Bill

State Rep. Eric Johnson (D-Dallas) has filed a statewide bill that would protect LGBTQ people from employment discrimination.

Johnson filed HB 850 on Wednesday, Jan. 16. The measure would add sexual orientation and gender-identity protections to State law, which currently protects Texas citizens from discrimination based only on race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, or age.

According to the Texas Tribune, Johnson has filed similar bills in Texas every session since 2011. In 2017, a bill narrowly passed through a House committee but never got a vote in the full chamber.

“State law already protects workers from discrimination based on things like religion,” Johnson told the Texas Tribune in May. “If someone can’t be fired because of where they worship, then they shouldn’t be able to be fired because of who they love or how they identify.”

Read more: http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/2019/01/state-rep-eric-johnson-files-employment-nondiscrimination-bill/