Oakland County adopts anti-discrimination addition to employment policy that protects LGBT workers

OAKLAND COUNTY – Oakland County made a huge leap in equality for its LGBT employees this month when it voted on and adopted a resolution to add sexual orientation to its Equal Employment Opportunity Policy.
The measure, voted on and approved 23-1, was presented by Oakland County Commissioners Tim Greimel and Dave Coulter. Coulter has also announced plans to run for a state Senate seat in this year's midterm elections. The resolution set to revise the policy to "comply with Proposal 2 and prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation." The proposal referred to was the 2006 ban on affirmative action, enacted by voters on Nov. 7 of that year.
Previously, Oakland County's policy had forbidden discrimination based on race, sex, age, physical or mental handicap, national origin, religious beliefs or political affiliation. Nothing in the resolution indicated the inclusion of protection from discrimination based on gender identity or expression.
The resolution, as passed, made note of such points as:
– The policy currently permits Oakland County's government to discriminate in employment on the basis of sexual orientation
– The Oakland County Board of Commissioners believes that all individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation, have innate worth and human dignity.
– The Oakland County Board of Commissioners believes that the sexual orientation of an individual is just as irrelevant to the employment qualifications of that individual as that individual's race, sex, age, physical or mental handicap, national origin, religious belief, or political affiliation are.
The only "nay" vote came from Commissioner Robert Gosselin, a General Motors engineer from Troy. Gosselin's seat on the commission is up for reelection in the November 2010 elections.