Bid Revived to Ban Job Bias Against Gays : Legislature: Assemblyman Friedman introduces new bill, similar to one vetoed last year, that includes a ruling by state Court of Appeal.

Reviving one of the hottest legislative issues of last year, Assemblyman Terry Friedman (D-Los Angeles) introduced legislation Tuesday to outlaw job discrimination against homosexuals.

“This is a matter of fundamental fairness,” Friedman told a Capitol news conference. “A person’s opportunity to have and keep a job should be based on qualifications and performance, not private, lawful behavior.”

The issue drew the anger of gays and lesbians last fall when Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed Friedman’s AB-101. Wilson said at the time that enactment of the bill would have led to burdensome lawsuits against small businesses and that sufficient protections already existed.

Thousands of gay and lesbian demonstrators took to the streets to protest in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento.

The new measure, similar to the old bill, “would prohibit discrimination or disparate treatment in any of the terms and conditions of employment based on actual or perceived sexual orientation.” It would not apply to nonprofit religious institutions.

The new bill, unlike the old, would write into law a 1991 state Court of Appeal ruling extending job protections to homosexuals but which has since been set aside by the state Supreme Court pending its review of the case.

“I am more optimistic this year,” Friedman said. “This is a new statutory scheme. I am seeking to put into the statute books what the Wilson Administration already is doing administratively.”

He noted that the state labor commissioner agreed to accept 30 cases of alleged job discrimination based on sexual orientation. The commission took the cases as a result of the appellate court decision.

Asked to comment on the bill, Dan Schnur, the governor’s deputy director of communications, said Wilson would have no comment because he hasn’t had the opportunity to review it.

A leading opponent, the Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition, said, “This is basically a face-saving tactic for the homosexual community since their ballot initiative drive disastrously failed.”

Following the gubernatorial veto, gay rights groups said they would try to place the controversial issue before the voters using the ballot initiative process.

They shelved that idea earlier this month, reportedly fearing it might backfire and hurt the gay rights movement.