Orlando – Following an extensive history of refusal by several states, including Florida, to pass the historic federal Equal Rights Amendment insuring fair pay for women in the workplace, this year several state legislators are moving forward – as they have been for the better part of this decade – to push it through on a state level.
On March 14, outside Orlando City Hall, representatives from the LGBTA Democratic Caucus, the American Civil Liberties Union of Central Florida, the League of Women Voters of Central Florida, Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida and Greater Orlando Now gathered in support of Florida Senate Bill 410 and House Bill 319. Congressman Darren Soto (D-Kissimmee) was also in attendance as he was snowed out of Washington during the recent blizzard.
Coined the Helen Gordon Davis Fair Pay Protection Act – named after the firebrand pro-women legislator who died in 2015 – the bill, if considered or passed, could have far reaching implications.
“An employer may not provide less favorable employment opportunities based on their sex or gender identity,” the bill reads in part.
Though there are some exceptions listed – seniority and merit among them – the bill takes a strong stand in the wake of the recent women’s march on Washington. Employers in the state would be required to provide one year of back pay if an unfair inconsistency is discovered in wages. Employers could also be fined between $2,500 and $5,000 depending on the frequency of violations.
The senate bill was filed by State Sen. Linda Stewart (D-Orlando) on January 20, just one day before the Washington March. At the Orlando event on March 14, symbolic pink hats were worn by some assembled protesters, and the dog-eared cardboard signs of a movement still moving were present as well.
It’s not just an issue for heterosexual women, Planned Parenthood’s Anna Eskamani says.
“The layers of oppression that we face are tied together,” she says. “First of all, LGBTQ people are absolutely impacted by unequal pay, especially if you identify as female – no matter what your sexuality is, you’re going to be impacted by this. Imagine if you’re a lesbian couple, you’re going to have a dual-income that is lower than the income of two gay men. So even looking at that type of relational dynamic, you’re going to be in a more dire and unfair situation, not only because of how you identify in your gender but also who you decide to love and marry.”
“So that makes it even more worrisome for an LGBTQ individual,” she adds. “I also wonder if you’re someone living the dynamic of someone who’s transitioning in gender, if you’re going from male to female, would you experience that type of gender cut with your income. Again, this is so intersectional and it impacts every person; it impacts your family, and if you are straight, it impacts your LGBTQ brothers and sisters. It is very much a united effort to make sure more people and every person is taken care of.”
Stewart, who filed the bill this time around, sees a glimmer of hope for its prospects, but isn’t, by any means, confident in its passage in the 2017 legislative session.
“I see only benefit to having that bill heard in at least one committee,” she says. “The biggest excuse I have heard is ‘I don’t know if we’ll have time to hear that.’ I don’t know why there is reluctance. The only people that I can see that might be saying something, but won’t say it outright publicly, is the businesses.”
But Stewart, and Florida, won’t be deterred, she says: “I think nationally the hate has come out very aggressively. We just can’t let that settle into the state of Florida. I hope the people here are better than that.”
