July 14, 2009 (Washington, DC) – Today, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) — the oldest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States — urged Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski to veto a bill that rubber-stamps a state law that forbids public school teachers from wearing any form of religious clothing. The Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act (SB 786), which was passed by the Oregon legislature last May, contemplates greater religious freedom for employees but ironically exempts public schools from its coverage. This is significant because Oregon law forbids individuals from wearing “any religious dress while engaged in the performance of duties as a teacher.” As a result, even if SB 786 is signed into law, observant Sikh Americans would still be barred from working as teachers in the public schools of Oregon because of their religiously-mandated dastaars (turbans), and observant Jews and Muslims would also be subjected to the ignominy of having to choose between religious freedom and a teaching career in the State of Oregon. This gaping hole in SB 786 constitutes a major step backward and simply cannot be reconciled with the spirit behind robust workplace religious freedom legislation. TAKE ACTION Please contact the Oregon Governor’s Citizens’ Representative Message Line at (503) 378-4582, or write to him directly, and tell him to veto SB 786. Please ask him to ensure that the Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act protects all citizens in the State of Oregon, including public school teachers.
