Day set aside to promote fair Va. employment

May 15 is "Clock in for Equality Day."

On that day, employers and employees around the country will be wearing buttons supporting fair employment practices.

In Virginia, as in many other states, it's perfectly legal to fire even your most loyal and productive workers just because you don't happen to like their sexual orientation. It's legal, but it's not fair.

These days more than ever, when working people are losing ground in the economy and the gap between rich and poor is growing ever wider, Virginia's workers need protection against arbitrary decisions of   managers on misguided crusades.

We need all fair-minded employers to adopt non-discrimination policies inclusive of sexual orientation to assure their workers that arbitrary decisions will not be made.

Many of our state's employers have already taken this step, including Capital One, Circuit City,  Dominion Resources, Norfolk Southern, Smithfield Foods,  Sprint Nextel and scores of others.

May 15 is a good day for those who lag behind to take this important step.

Every worker deserves to be judged on the basis of qualifications and job performance, not sexual orientation.