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From this evidence, it is clear that victims of sexual orientation/gender identity <br /> discrimination have nowhere to turn and no recourse under current state or federal law. <br /> Many other Indiana jurisdictions prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual <br /> orientation and/or gender identity, including the cities of Indianapolis (2005), Lafayette <br /> (1993), West Lafayette(1993), Bloomington (1993, 2006),Fort Wayne(2001), and <br /> Michigan City(2002). In 2001, Governor O'Bannon issued an Executive Order <br /> prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in state agencies. Governor <br /> Keman extended that protection to transgendered people in 2004. Governor Daniels' <br /> state employment policy likewise protects state employees from discrimination based on <br /> both sexual orientation and gender identity. <br /> The federal government also recognizes that there is a serious problem with <br /> discrimination against GLBT persons. In 1998 President Clinton signed Executive <br /> Order 13087 to prohibit federal employment discrimination on the basis of sexual <br /> orientation. The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions filed <br /> a report in 2002 to accompany Senate Bill 1284 which stated: "[t]he problem of sexual <br /> orientation discrimination in the workplace is wide-spread and well-documented." In <br /> 2005, the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform stated"that Congressional intent <br /> as well as current policy and practice prohibit Federal employment discrimination on the <br /> basis of`sexual orientation"'. <br /> On July 31, 2005, the Executive Director of the Indiana Human Rights <br /> Commission, Gregory K. Scott, gave his views on gay rights to the South Bend Tribune: <br /> Q, Indiana law does not protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in <br /> employment, in housing, in education, in public accommodations. What's <br /> wrong with this picture? <br /> A. I think it's something that needs to be revisited. I think it is something <br /> that the legislature will have to address. And I think very much, in light of <br /> the governor's executive order regarding employment of individuals by <br /> the state, it seems to me that it is inappropriate to deny a person certain <br /> fundamental rights based on their sexual orientation. <br /> It is clear that this proposed amendment is both timely and necessary to remedy <br /> real wrongs to GLBT persons in the area of employment and housing in South Bend, <br /> Indiana. <br /> 3 <br />