And then there were 15

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich(D) signed a sexual orientation non-discrimination bill into law on Friday January 21, making Illinois the 15th State in the Union to include sexual orientation as a class against which discrimination is prohibited. The other states which have some form of protection against dicrimination based on sexual orientation are: California (1992, 2003), Connecticut (1991), Hawaii (1991), Maryland (2001), Massachusetts (1989), Minnesota (1993), Nevada (1999), New Hampshire (1997), New Jersey (1992), New Mexico (2003), New York (2002), Rhode Island (2001), Vermont (1992) and Wisconsin (1982). Of course, that means that 35 (70%) of the states in the Union don't have such a law, despite majority public opinion in favor of sexual orientation non-discrimination, and federal protection is lacking, since the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is still pending in the U.S. House of Representatives, where some form of the bill has been in every Congress since 1974.