Shelby County would be in good company

As the Shelby County Board of Commissioners begins hearings in committee TODAY on a Non-Discrimination Ordinance that will promote fair treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees, it's good to know that Shelby County would be in good company if it were to make it's equal opportunity employment policies more inclusive.

Consider how many employers in Shelby County already have fair employment practices that include sexual orientation:

AT&T*
AutoZone
Best Buy*
Borders Group Inc.*
Costco*
Delta Airlines
Delloitte & Touche*
Ernst & Young*
FedEx
First Horizon National*
Harrah’s Entertainment*
Hilton Hotels*
Home Depot
International Paper
J.C. Penny*
Kroger
Lowe’s
Macy’s*
McDonald’s
Medtronic*
Nike*
Pinnacle Airlines
Rhodes College
Schering-Plough*
Sears*
Servicemaster
Smith & Nephew
Southwest Tennessee Community College*
Starbucks
SunTrust Banks*
Target
United Parcel Service*
University of Memphis*
Verizon
Wachovia Bank*
Walgreens*
Wal-Mart

Employers with an asterisk (*) also include gender identity or expression in their Equal Opportunity Employment policies. The data comes from individual business websites and the 2009 HRC Corporate Equality Index.

Constitution makes an appearance in House debates

In Thursday morning's House debate on HB 0082, which would expand the gun authorization of judges, Rep. Susan Lynn gave an interesting and even eloquent argument about the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in opposition to Rep. Fincher's amendment to the bill that would allow legislators the same privileges.

I knew she was a fan of the Tenth Amendment, but I admit every time she or someone else brought it up, I found myself asking aloud, "What about the Fourteenth?" She knows it well and made good use of it on the floor. Obviously, I'd like to see much more extensive use made of the Fourteenth Amendment with respect to some other legislation being considered this session. But I have to give her props.