Comment from newenglandner
Isn't that something....Being fired for smoking....I think that it is not right. We are supposed to be working towards discrimination in all areas. What about the handicaps, elderly? Enough is enough. What about the government - such as President and their families? Are they going to kick them out? Straight people smoke more than gays and lesbians and bisexuals. I am tired fighting for my race and being gay. It is good that PEOPLE are quitting smoking, but they are such rude people. I do not own a car, so I walk most of the time. I tell the drivers that make rude commits about smokers to stop messing up the air with their vehicles and get some exercise.....This stinks..... What is next? We need a new world... I am a smoker, too.

The idea that corporate America could even consider that the legal, personal activities of its employees as grounds for termination holds a very clear reference to the shadows of the Third Reich.  If the workers of America do not soon grasp the reigns of our own destiny, we may all find ourselves under the boot heel of corporate America. - kinggeek

We are free thinking Americans and there should be a stop to all Discrimination. How about people who overeat? Drive cars on the freeway?  Fly private planes? Surf in the Ocean with sharks? Fly in hot air balloons? People who date married people?  Have diabetes?  Flat feet? The list could go on forever. AND I SMOKE. - James Lee Bewley

I have to say that upon hearing what Weyco had done I was appalled.  True, I am a smoker myself but my personal business is mine and no one else’s.  Someone should be trying to fight that dismissal to their full extent.  I know that if I was fired for my personal habits that did, in no way, harm my coworkers or I, there would be claws retracted and eyes missing. tee hee. - jzabel

Time for the re-release of the film 1984... Life is getting even worse. - colin

This is really very scary, because it does indeed seem to be an all too real future trend. Corporate America seems to have found a "loophole" through which to discriminate, but is it really legal? Discrimination of any kind should not be allowed, PERIOD! Of course, there I go, living in my "dream world" again! This discrimination is just the tip of the iceberg, I fear. If allowed to continue, just imagine what else can be used by them to quite literally destroy peoples lives! What can we do, as victims of such discrimination, or possible future victims? I would love to see a follow up report with answers to such questions. Perhaps a year from now, when the outcome of all that is happening now is better known. Thank you for a very well written AND frighteningly real report, Mr. Fairbanks! - gossimer3

Smoking is a dirty filthy habit and has no defense as alcohol is a poison.  I make my property a sanctuary and don't allow either stinking activity on it.  A virgin pina colada or strawberry daiquiri is just as refreshing as one that is spiked.  Btw I'm a gay man and never have used drugs, alcohol, or tobacco...lonely but gay and healthy just the same.  Viva the power to squelch the smoker but don't equate sexual preference with bad habits.  It just doesn’t mix. - Moovbuff

I am a lesbian who smoked since i was 10yrs of age i am now 36 and i think that all of this is all a power trip.....and all the big dawgs who are in power should clean out their closets before casting stones....the bible states do not judge less yea be judged....so are all these power folks GOD? - ikneelb4udj

The people who work for this company should take it to civil liberty or the acclu and sue the hell out of the company straight or gay.  That’s why I think this country is going so bad - too many right wingers in government. - liscannor

What utter bullsh*t!  What you do on your own time is your business and not your employers.  I'd bet a 3 dollar bill, if we looked close enough at those employers backgrounds, we could find some reason to boot their asses out, too.  Utter and complete ludicrousness. - stephen724

It is a known fact that smoking is very dangerous to everyone’s health.  It should not be allowed in public places.  In fact it already cost the health care system so much for all the smoking related issues, it should be outlawed.  No drug with as many side effects would ever be allowed.  Why should anyone be allowed to do something so self destructive and expect insurance companies to pay their medical bills for the results.  It is the powerful money of the tobacco industry that pays off the senators and congressmen to allow it all to continue, otherwise it would already be gone.

Wow.. The thing about being gay, and being able to be fired, just for that reason, shocked me. And that is still allowed through out the US... Now, If I was to see a lesbian apply for the job, she probably would be accepted, because most employers ( males ) find that 'sexy' .... Still, It doesn’t make any sense what so ever, that they can fire you because you are gay.. Anyways, those are my thoughts on that.

I enjoyed the article but the author has too much of his own opinion. I'd advise him to check his facts about African-Americans smoking. I mean his information needs to come from more than a poll that says Americans think Bush is doing a good job. Who sends out those polls and why hasn't my neighborhood or my grandparents in Ritzville received one over the past 70 years? Anyway, the fight for rights was propelled off the backs of Christian blacks. Stop using us as escape goats. Deal with your own prejudices.

Let's get one thing done right off the bat.  I am 25 yr old gay man.  I don't smoke because I’m gay I smoke because it helps me to relieve stress.  Not all gay men sleep around.  I have had two relationships over the last 6 years, both with men. One ended because he moved to a different state for a job.  I am still in this last relationship.  I don't look any different than most people do.  I am not a flaming queen like some are.  It is not right that a company has the right to fire any body for what they do off the clock.  If two men are sleeping together in a company and their personal life stays personal and it don't interfere with their jobs then why does it matter?  I'll tell you why it matters, because these people have nothing better to do then to stick their nose in somebody's business.  The other reason is because people are dumb.  They don't know anything about these people except what is shown on TV.  That is also stereo typing all gays as the same. - knightwalker98

This is absolutely ludicrous - how can anybody get fired for smoking off the clock?  This has gone way too far. How do we fight it?? - Allrown

I am gay and I see this article was simply unnecessary and frivolous.  It should have been written to the company not to the users.

Where on earth do you get the idea that gays smoke more than the rest of the population?  In my observation, none of my gay friends smoke, although some of my straight friends smoke ... and I have many more gay friends, believe me.  Also, I don't see gays smoking much in public either.  Gay men are much more aware of the chronic hard that smoking does to their health, their bodies and skin to take that risk ... It’s cheaper to quit than to pay for botox every six months.  Where do you get this idea from?!?  Do you have any statistics to back you up??? While employers should be encouraged to promote healthy lifestyles ... and many do ... I agree it would be worrying if employers were to discriminate on the basis of orientation.  I live in Canada so here it is (officially) illegal to discriminate on the basis of sex, race, sexual orientation ... and I do realize that is not the case in the USA.  Well, at least we (and a growing number of other countries) are setting the new moral standard for the US to follow. - Equis

This article is almost unbelievable, and I am shocked to have ever read it.  What is going on with the corporate world nowadays?  As a black female who smokes, I begin to wonder how much farther things will go.  I'll be damned if I got fired for smoking on my own time - that is a lawsuit waiting to happen.  RIDICULOUS!!! - pattyrood

Well first of all, I'm a smoker and I'm a lesbian but I only smoke on the weekends and maybe occasionally through the week 1 or 2 times depending on how I feel!  I do know my father is not "GAY" and he smokes a pack and a half a day, I have a cousin who smokes 2 packs a day and she is not a "LESBIAN"  and I have two roommates, a lesbian and a gay guy who do not smoke at all!   And as far as not smoking while at work, I can understand a no smoking policy but what I do on my own time is my business, if I want to smoke in my car, at my house, etc. that is my decision not my works decision!  There are a lot of people in this world who smoke and they aren't all gay but if you put all the homosexuals and heterosexuals together that do smoke then they would over rule the non smokers!

When is the line going to be drawn?  Individuals have the right to do what they want with their life, they do not did a babysitter.  Whether they are homosexual or heterosexual who cares.  These people that continually bash people for their lifestyle and what they do, should mind their own damn business, because if they did they wouldn't have time to mind everyone else's business. - Non smoker and lesbian

Mr. Fairbanks, I concur that we should be concerned about Weyco's actions and what it could mean for each of us.  However, I am much more concerned with the courts legalization of these actions.  We mustn't underestimate the power of the cloak and gavel in this arena.  Lobbying politicians, though tedious, for wise robed persons to play a role in the course of our nation through legal means is necessary.  Yes, it is much the same brick wall that we have bloodied ourselves against for some time but it remains the action we can and should endeavor to be successful in. Also, we (meaning the queer/gay community at large) have the option of working where we are protected or educating employers so that we may become protected as individuals and a community.  Communication and education one human to another is our inroad as is the courts and politics. Thank you for your work, continue on. - studnt

Yes, I say you have to let everyone know that there rights are being taken away one step at a time, there is a long list that they have taken from us already, and if it isn’t stopped, it will be “You do this and no, don't do that!” You will not have a life to live of your own choice.  We the people are the power - just stand up together and we can do anything, save our rights before it’s too hard to get them back!! - hlogger

I am a non-smoking person whose boyfriend by my encouraging is quitting smoking. I saw "both" of my parents die of lung cancer and emphysema and when my mom died on Thanksgiving Day in 1995 I performed CPR on her as she quit smoking the last time we put here to bed.  The "excuse" that we’re gay so we are expected to smoke is bullshit. Smoking kills everyone and we need to stop to save our lives.  I am happy cities are more and more making non-smoking bars and restaurants as I am sick of going to a bar with friends and coming home smelling like an ashtray. I am employed as a police officer for 18 yrs and police departments in California are asking on entrance applications if you smoke and if you do, they do not hire you. Lung cancer, emphysema and heart attacks are not good for anyone and I would rather my community the "gay" community to live a long life. Period. - John

Well, I am not sure about the government’s findings that homosexuals smoke more because of stress. I am gay and my sexuality did not play a role when I smoke. I enjoyed smoking. However, since I have quit, I do feel better health wise and money wise. Hopefully, employers will not use this statistical analysis to uncover gays in the working environment. Considering today's world wide social attitudes and the type of government being run today by Bush and his born again Right Wing Christian fanatics, I would not be surprised. I say, do not smoke for health reasons. but if someone does. That is his or her choice and let it be. - scoundrel

Great article!  Great points! I agree. - jtaylor985

To Whom it may concern: I am a smoker, resident of Michigan born and raised. Oh yeah, I'm also GAY, disliked by my own family, and it is beginning to feel like I'm hated by this entire sucky society that claims to be free - what a joke. My sister died from a cancer that ravaged her liver 20+ years after she quit smoking, my father quit smoking and 20+ years later he too also died, his body riddled with cancer! I personally know four people who NEVER smoked a day in their lives and they all died from cancer! My mother’s father was one of those people, so you see I have a kind of a unique perspective on the whole Idea that people who smoke cost this wonderful country and its tax paying minority so much – BULLSH*T. It's only a few who have the money and the lawyers who are trying to make the rest of us live the way they want all of us to live - well I say to all of you -oops click there goes another nail in my coffin - LOL. When and as soon as possible I will be leaving this un-free society behind. - daniel

The whole thing is ludicrous.  Homosexuality is a gene that is passed on by your parents.  No one in their right mind would choose such a lifestyle that is ridiculed with guilt and unhappiness.  It's a gene folks.  So let us take that into consideration before we condemn anyone of their sexual preference. - carlos2881

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