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"Hawaii law explicitly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation . . .

. . . in employment, public accommodations and housing."

That's a reminder from the Human Rights Campaign, via a post at Pam's House Blend on the federal government's existing and proposed faith-based programs:

[I]f my employer is an evangelical Christian who has religious objections to homosexuality, she can fire me if she finds out that I'm gay. (Note: I don't have to "come out" at work. I merely have to be "found out.") It will be perfectly legal, and there won't be a damn thing I can do about it, unless I'm employed in Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Vermont, Washington State, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Maryland, Hawaii, Maine, the District of Columbia, Connecticut, or a city/municipality that has a non-discrimination statute that includes sexual orientation.

And even if I am employed in those states, I can still be fired if my employer has a religious objection to homosexuality and gets government funding under the Bush administrations faith-based initiative, which exempts religious organizations from state and local non-discrimination laws.

Full post as published by Supreme Court of Hawaii Blog (Unofficial) on July 06, 2008 (boomark / email).