Gay rights advocates push Collin County commissioners to ban discrimination

McKinney, Texas -- Gay rights advocates urged Collin County commissioners on Tuesday to adopt a hiring policy that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Commissioners are considering a proposed policy that would ban discrimination based on “sex, race, creed, disability or national origin.” It does not specifically mention sexual orientation.

“To exclude sexual orientation and gender identity/expression from your policy sends a clear message to the people affected by it,” said Morris Garcia, president of the Collin County Gay and Lesbian Alliance.

He said the suggested policy would allow “bigoted opinions in the workplace that can only equate to a hostile environment, poor productivity, and unfair/unequal treatment.”

Commissioners took no action on the proposed equal employment opportunity policy. They said they would talk to other county elected officials and study it further. None of the four commissioners’ court members present discussed adding sexual orientation to the proposed policy.

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