Gov. Ed Rendell has signed an executive order that, among other things, prohibits discrimination against state employees or applicants for state jobs based on their "undifferentiated sexual characteristics."
A small percentage of people are born with their gender unclear; they share some of the anatomical traits of both a male and a female, say a female with male genitalia.
This new state provision -- along with one barring discrimination against the transgendered (including transsexuals, cross-dressers and even female impersonators) -- has been added to the law that bars discrimination based on race, color, creed, ancestry, union affiliation, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, AIDS, HIV status or disability.
But as one clever Web commentator put it about the addition of the "undifferentiated sexual characteristics" category: "Unless Pennsylvania has some sort of kinky system where job seekers are interviewed naked, we're not sure how they figure this out."
Would a person with "undifferentiated sexual characteristics" volunteer such information⢠And what employer or prospective employer would ask?
We don't condone discrimination. But with this new category it's almost as if the state hunted for a group of people in order to codify them as an officially sanctioned "aggrieved" class.
What's next, "protections" for the incontinent, the incoagulable and the infertile?
