North Dakota denies protections to LGBT people

While the Republican Senate in North Dakota vote to protect LGBT (yes, T... well, mostly) in state law, the Republicans in the House decided against it.

Great. From the On Top Magazine article:

“[Being gay or lesbian] is not something that you're born with, that you have no choice in,” said Rep. Robin Weisz, a Republican from Hurdsfield, told the AP. “It is a behavior, and it is a lifestyle choice.”

Great. *Deep breath in so as not to drive to North Dakota and start screaming.* Meanwhile, there's a really sweet sub-story State Sen. Fiebiger who took up LGBT rights after his son come out. What does this tell us, chillun?

ND WTF

So, a few day after they protect the rights of LGBT people, the legislature of North Dakota has decided, in all its wisdom, to give the full rights of humanity to another underrepresented group of people: the unborn. 

Seriously. 

The House voted 51-41 this afternoon to declare that a fertilized egg has all the rights of any person.

That means a fetus could not be legally aborted without the procedure being considered murder.

ND goes back into my list of "crazy places that I'd like to drive through."

In all my life, I never thought I'd spend this much time thinking about North Dakota outside of our need for wheat, or, perhaps, wonder what it's like to be buried under seventeen feet of snow for three months.

Oh, and I think it's clear there are no good web designers in the whole state -- WTF up with that website?

North Dakota vs. Utah -- ND WINS!

So, on the back of Utah getting rid of every possibility of passing a gay rights bill this session in that state, the North Dakota state Senate has passed a bill extending protections for gays and lesbians.

From the Grand Forks Herald:

"If someone is not doing their job, or habitually tardy, or doesn't get along with people, they can still be fired, whether gay, lesbian or straight," said Sen. Tom Fiebiger, D-Fargo. "What employers can't do under this law is fire someone because they are gay."

The bill goes onto the state house (as HB2278) for approval there, and would then go onto Republican Gov. John Hoeven for approval. We'll see how that goes.

Meanwhile, the ND Diocese is insane. Even though they got an addenda that protects religious insitutions' rights to discriminate at will, they still feel that it does not protect employers where "a prohibition against sexual activity outside of marriage is a legitimate qualification for a particular job."

I'm sorry, what?

What's up with these big Western states? Weird news coming out of all of them.