The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination, commonly referred to as SASOD, continues to advocate for an amendment of the 1997 Prevention of Discrimination Act to explicitly protect queer persons from workplace discrimination.
“It’s really important that we have some form of protection from discrimination for LGBTQIA people.
“This is one of the few pieces of legislation that is protective in nature… so in lieu of asking for broad anti-discrimination legislation being drafted to protect discrimination on all grounds in relation to all rights, we see it is important to expand what we have right now in relation to LGBTQIA rights,” Joel Simpson, SASOD’s Managing Director, told the News Room in a recent interview.
Currently, the Act prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on: “race, sex, religion, colour, ethnic origin, indigenous population, national extraction, social origin, economic status, political opinion, disability, family responsibilities, pregnancy, marital status or age…”
SASOD has, however, been advocating for the prohibition of discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics. Local studies show that queer persons have faced workplace discrimination so this law amendment could provide explicit protection, Simpson explained.
This advocacy for amendments to the Prevention of Discrimination Act has spanned about a decade, over two administrations.
Simpson said the group’s lobbying and advocacy continues but SASOD and its partners are also focused on other rights and protections for the queer community. One focus, he said, is on decriminalising same-sex intimacy.
SASOD continues advocacy for law changes to prevent workplace discrimination
The post Queer rights body still seeking law amendment to counter workplace discrimination appeared first on News Room Guyana.
