May 1 marks the official celebration of workers in many parts of the world, but this year we’ve set aside another day in May to call attention to workplace issues in America. The date is May 15, and the event is Clock In for Equality, the first-ever national day of action to support workplace fairness for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and people living with HIV. Thousands of people across the country will take part.

Lambda Legal is coordinating the national effort and hosting seven flagship events around the country. Staff and our partner organizations will be at the State Capitol in Atlanta, the GLBT Chamber of Commerce in Dallas, DowAgrosciences in Indianapolis, the UCLA Labor Center in Los Angeles and other key locations. We have also signed up over 170 groups and 1,200 individuals, representing LGBT and HIV-affected people and allies in every state, to stand up for workplace fairness on May 15, even if simply by wearing a button or sticker to work.

By acting together, we will educate people about the harassment and discrimination LGBT people and people with HIV still face at work. We will activate people to fight for the rights of LGBT and HIV-affected workers. And we will increase support for efforts to win legal protections for LGBT employees.

Clock In for Equality could not be coming at a better time.

A few weeks ago, lawmakers re-introduced the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), and many people are busy lobbying in earnest to finally pass a national law that would protect people from discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Some groups will coordinate their Clock In events around ENDA activism.

While the battle for ENDA will likely proceed throughout the summer, there is action right now in a handful of states. Legislatures in Oregon, Iowa and Colorado recently passed antidiscrimination laws that include both sexual orientation and gender identity. If all are signed into law as expected, 20 states plus the District of Columbia will now protect people from sexual orientation discrimination and 12 from gender identity discrimination. Those are good numbers, but they don’t adequately represent the 80 percent (or more, depending on which survey numbers you take) of Americans who believe that gay and lesbian people should be treated fairly in the workplace.

Furthermore, even in states that do protect LGBT workers, problems can still surface. Lambda Legal recently filed a case on behalf of two firefighters and a 911 dispatcher in Bellevue, Washington, who were denied family benefits for their same-sex domestic partners. While Washington State last year passed an antidiscrimination law protecting LGBT workers, the city of Bellevue has resisted offering valuable family benefits to its gay and lesbian employees. Because different-sex married employees receive family benefits as a matter of course, they are actually receiving better pay for exactly the same work. That’s discrimination any way you cut it.

We’re confident that city officials will reach the same conclusion, and our plaintiffs will be at Lambda Legal’s Clock In for Equality event in Seattle to drive home the point. One of the plaintiffs, Larry deGroen, will speak about how betrayed he felt when the city made him work overtime, unpaid, to make up for the one day of work he missed to attend his partner’s father’s funeral — a day that would have been granted as bereavement leave for any of his married co-workers.

“I’ve spent over 10 years fighting fires and doing my best to save lives as a paramedic for the city,” deGroen says. “But I felt like all that meant nothing when I was penalized for being with my partner in his time of need.”

That’s not fair — but unfortunately it’s not uncommon. That’s why we’re asking people to take a day to help us raise awareness about workplace discrimination and how we can work together to combat it. The date is May 15, and the event is Clock In for Equality. Please consider joining us.