Christopher Cervantes
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There’s a word that is tossed around nowadays in the so-called age of political correctness. It is the ultimate ammo when it comes to any high-profile argument or debate. The word: ignorant.

Today, “ignorant” takes on a connotation that paints a person to be a malicious, disgustingly hurtful individual. However, there is a second definition, a true definition that better describes people. In the dictionary, “ignorant” is defined as “lacking knowledge or awareness.” Unlike the first generalized definition, the second is more common.

This became obvious last week, when members of the Human Rights Campaign made their presence known on the University of Iowa campus. The Human Rights Campaign is the largest civil-rights organization that fights to achieve quality for all members of the LGBT community in the United States. The group has been active since the 1980s and has more than 1.5 million members and supporters. The members’ goal on the UI campus was to raise awareness regarding a shocking fact among our nation’s policies.

In roughly 30 states, it is legal to fire someone based on her or his sexual orientation and 38 in which it is legal because of gender identity.

There are some laws to protect members of the LGBT community in the workplace. However, most of these laws refer to those employed by the federal government, When it comes to the private sector, there is no federal statute to protect against sexual-orientation discrimination.

The sad thing is, few people are aware of this.

A 2013 HuffPost/YouGov poll found that 69 percent of Americans think that it is illegal to fire someone for being gay. Now that gay marriage has been legalized, I assume that some may believe that the fight is over, the LGBT community has gotten what it has always wanted. What needs to be understood, though, is that what is truly desired is to have the same rights as every one else in the country.

No one in the 21st century would dare to try to fire someone because of her or his race. Why? Because it is a poor excuse for occupational termination. The same goes for sexual discrimination. It is the lamest, most trivial reason, but people can still get away with it. Why? Because it is legal to do so.

University of Iowa student and Malaysian native Ishwer Jivaneth thought that progress might be a ways away, saying, “Certain sections of government will nitpick in order for things to go their way. Given what happens here, I don’t think the change people want will happen for like 50 years.”

I know that with all the challenges our country is facing from outside forces, inner social reform is the last thing on most people’s minds. But with all this talk of “showing strength in the face of adversity,” shouldn’t we reward those American who had to live with injustice and unnecessary standards? It shouldn’t be much to ask, and this shouldn’t really be up for discussion. Sexuality and gender identity are not grounds for termination. If someone thinks that, perhaps it’s best if they look for employment elsewhere.