Nebraska senators revisit LGBT employee discrimination fight

Lincoln, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska senator says public support and backing from the business community for a measure banning workplace discrimination against members of the LGBT community will ensure a stronger showing for the idea in the Legislature, despite staunch opposition from a conservative majority and Gov. Pete Ricketts.

Hundreds of supporters filled the Capitol rotunda in Lincoln on Tuesday to celebrate the measure by Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln to prohibit discrimination against employees based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Debate was scheduled to begin Tuesday but was delayed.

Morfeld is gearing up for a second showdown after the bill failed to gain enough votes from lawmakers last year.

"We are gathered here in a building emblazoned with inscriptions of freedom and justice to finish what has not been completed: equality for all Nebraskans," he said.

Morfeld said he has crafted a compromise amendment with Republican Sen. Colby Coash of Lincoln that he said he expects to bring additional votes this time around.

Similar ordinances already exist in Omaha, and 21 other states and the District of Columbia have laws banning LGBT employment discrimination.

Both the Lincoln and Omaha Chambers of Commerce have backed the bill, saying that Nebraska already struggles to recruit and retain young talent and that anti-discriminatory policies would draw talented employees.

Linda Dugan, vice president of global operations for PayPal in La Vista, said the company "furiously and passionately" supports the measure.

"Businesses are desperate for talent," she said. "We need to keep the best and brightest in the state, and we need to bring the best and the brightest to the state. We need to be able to ensure that they and their families are equally protected."

But few opponents have changed their minds. Greg Schleppenbach, the Nebraska Catholic Conference's executive director, said there is no hard evidence to correlate sexual orientation employment discrimination laws and economic growth.

"They have failed to show there is significant discrimination or anything nearing pervasive to warrant this kind of special protection," he said.

Schleppenbach said the bill is bad policy and the organization would likely oppose it even if the existing religious exemption was broader.

Gov. Pete Ricketts has also opposed the bill, and at a news conference Tuesday called it unnecessary because the state already prohibits discrimination.

Ricketts said Nebraska is a welcoming state and business representatives primarily approach him with concerns about workforce development, infrastructure and taxes, not discrimination.

"This is a bill that I'm not in favor of and we've got current law that already covers it," he said.

Morfeld says no law specifically covers members of the LGBT community.

"Being willfully ignorant about that is not going to solve the problem or make us more competitive," he said.

Morfeld prioritized the bill in order to ensure it would be debated again this year.

"We demand not special rights, but equal rights, and we will not rest until we achieve it," he said.

Nebraska has a unicameral (single body) legislature that is non-partisan; it has only 49 members.

The bill is LB586.

By Anna Gronewold, Associated Press. Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Gayly – March 23, 2016 @ 8 a.m.