Bill protecting gays in the workplace moving through the Assembly

Tuesday, March 23, 1999 | 5:28 a.m.

AB311 would expand the existing law that prevents on-the-job discrimination based on race, color, creed, sex, religion, disability or national origin.

Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, the bill's author, said Monday's voice vote seemed to cut roughly along partisan lines, with Democrats in favor and GOP panel members in opposition.

The bill now goes to the full Assembly for a vote and, if it survives there, on to the Senate.

"I'm really optimistic. I think at this time I'd like to see a 32-to-10 on it," Parks said, referring to the vote count he hopes to see in the Assembly.

The bill has been blasted by conservative groups around the state who say Park's legislation is an inappropriate expansion of gay rights.

One group, the Nevada Eagle Forum, said the bill is part of the "world expansion of homosexual influence."

Parks thinks his influence will help the bill get a passing vote in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee so it can go on to have a fighting chance on the Senate floor.

Parks said he talked to Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, who chairs the committee, and he seemed "really quite positive about the prospects for the bill."