For over 100 years now, Labor Day has been about respect and equality for every working woman and man - unless that worker is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. In 30 states, including Michigan, it's still legal to fire or deny someone a job merely because that person is LGBT. People can even be discriminated against on the job because their boss thinks they're lesbian or gay.

On other fronts, Michigan goes above and beyond when it comes to protecting workers. People of color, women, tall people, short people, heavy people, thin people, people of different ethnicities and religions - all have employment protection under Michigan's Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

And that's how it should be.

So why aren't Michigan's LGBT workers protected under the same law that protects every other worker in our state? Given the fact that 89 percent of Americans favor equal employment protection for all people, it's pretty difficult to explain the continuing employment discrimination against LGBT workers.

Michigan is bleeding talented people at an astonishing rate, and the best jobs are following those people out of the state. Why would talented lesbian or gay workers stay in a state like Michigan that doesn't protect their jobs when 17 other states do?

The movement for employment equality isn't limited to trendy states like Massachusetts, New York and California. Iowa, for example, recently passed a non-discrimination law. Equality isn't just for big-city liberals anymore.

Our state has a proud history of providing an equal opportunity work environment. This history may well be a result of the strong presence of organized labor here. In fact, organized labor is once more taking the lead in working for equality through organizations like Pride at Work, the AFL-CIO affiliate organization for lesbian and gay workers. We hope state law follows where the unions are leading.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people don't want more rights than anyone else have, and neither do we want to take employment rights away from anyone else. We just want the same protection against employment discrimination that so many other people - including the extremists who oppose us - are able to take for granted.

Dawn Wolfe is the director of communications for the Triangle Foundation, Michigan's leading anti-violence and advocacy organization for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.