June 15, 2020 --
This day will be celebrated as the day the Supreme Court of the United States recognized protection from discrimination in employment for individuals on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity! This is a great human rights victory—and has a special history in the City of Sandpoint.
On August 5, 2012, Sandpoint became the first city in Idaho to pass comprehensive non-discrimination protections for LCBTQ people. Shortly afterwards the cities of Pocatello and Boise passed their own ordinances, as did 12 other Idaho cities, including Coeur d’Alene.
Efforts to extend these protections statewide through the “Add the Words” campaign, after 9 years, secured a hearing for a bill to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to protected classes under the State Human Rights in 2015. Despite compelling testimony and widespread support, the House State Affairs Committee voted 13-4 against the bill. It never reached the floor.
But today—in 2020—that protection now extends throughout the United States based on the Supreme Court ruling that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.