Push to pass the federal Employment Non-discrimination Act

(Washington) Some of the nation's largest civil rights groups, including the Human Rights Campaign, said Tuesday that Congress should pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act even if it does not include protections for trans-workers.

The decision has divided the LGBT community and angered a large number of rights groups.

The act, known as ENDA, was to have come to a vote on Tuesday but was pushed off the agenda at the last minute. The vote now is expected either Wednesday or Thursday. Continue.

Vote On ENDA Delayed

(Washington) The House will not vote Wednesday on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act as originally planned.

The Ways and Means Committee is expected to reschedule the vote for either Tuesday or Wednesday next week.

The decision to delay the vote is due to other pressing business, House Democrats told 365Gay.com. Continue.

Vote on homosexual jobs bill looms in House

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on a measure Thursday that would grant special protections to homosexuals in the workplace. Conservative groups are warning that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, is a serious threat to religious liberty.

The bill (HR 2015) being championed by Congressman Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts), an open homosexual, seeks to make it illegal for employers to make decisions on hiring, firing, promoting, or paying an employee based on "sexual orientation." Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), the only openly homosexual female member of Congress, is offering an amendment to the bill that would extend protections to transgender people and cross-dressers. She describes ENDA as an "extraordinary opportunity to advance LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] rights in America."

Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues at Concerned Women for America (CWA), says ENDA unconstitutionally pits the government directly against the free exercise of religion. Continue.

Lesbian Lawmaker Offers ENDA Compromise

(Washington) The only openly lesbian member of Congress says she will propose an amendment to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to restore gender identity protections.

The removal of protections for trans people from the act, known as ENDA, has split the LGBT community like no other issue in more than a decade.

Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) says she has secured an agreement from the Democratic leadership to introduce the amendment next week on the House floor, after the bill moves through the House Education and Labor Committee on Thursday. Continue.

Frank Reiterates Support for Sexual Orientation-only ENDA

Responding to criticism over the House Democratic leadership's potential decision to move forward with a federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act that would protect sexual orientation but not gender identity, Rep. Barney Frank said Thursday that opponents of the bill "can’t handle the truth, unfortunately." In remarks at a press conference on Capitol Hill Thursday morning, Frank said that a sexual orientation-only ENDA could pass in the House with a margin of 15 or 20 votes but that a transgender-inclusive bill wouldn't even garner an up-or-down vote on the floor of the chamber due to the lack of political support. Continue.

Representative Barney Frank speaks to House on ENDA

Mr. Speaker, I want to address today a very important issue that is generating an intense discussion among a fairly small segment of people who follow things, and it seems to us it's not healthy and that we ought to have a broader discussion, both of the specific issue, which is a question of how to protect people against discrimination based on their sexual orientation and at some point I would hope their gender and their gender identity, and also how do political parties relate to those in the population who are the most passionate, the most committed and the most legitimately zealous about their feelings, often on one particular issue to the exclusion of a broader set. Continue.

150 Organizations to Announce Launch of United ENDA, a Nationwide Campaign to Ensure Transgender Protections Remain in Employment Non-Discrimination Act

Washington - October 5 –The National Center for Lesbian Rights, Equality California, and the Transgender Law Center joined the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Equality Federation, the National Center for Transgender Equality, PFLAG, the Stonewall Democrats, and more than 150 other organizations in announcing the launch of a united campaign to win passage of a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), H.R. 2015. Called United ENDA, the campaign continues the unprecedented display of unity in our community over the past week, as organizations and individuals from across the country have joined together to oppose any efforts to weaken ENDA by removing protections for gender identity and expression, which would be particularly devastating for transgender people.

The organizations comprising United ENDA will meet daily to keep the pressure on Congress to restore the ENDA originally introduced earlier this year, which protects everyone in our community. The groups have signed on to a joint letter to Congress objecting to a diminished bill that abandons transgender people and weakens protections for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. As a result of the joint letter to Congress, phone calls and e-mails from constituents and direct lobbying by LGBT organizations, a scheduled House committee hearing on a sexual-orientation-only ENDA was postponed until Tuesday, providing United ENDA with a short window to continue its advocacy on H.R. 2015.

The campaign will allow organizations to better coordinate lobbying strategies, grassroots mobilization efforts, online activism, as well as media and legal strategies. Continue.

Stripped-Down Gay Rights Bill Heads To House Committee

(Washington) A new version of the Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act - with protections for the transgendered removed - goes to the House Education and Labor committee this week amid growing anger from LGBT rights groups and without the endorsement of one of its key sponsors.

The committee on Tuesday is expected to mark up the measure and send it to the floor of the House for a vote. Continue.

House Leaders May Strip Gender Identity From ENDA

Immediately following the historic Senate vote to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the federal hate-crimes law, controversy erupted over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act now under consideration in the House of Representatives.

The Democratic House leadership is considering stripping protections for transgender people from ENDA after a preliminary vote count found the measure would not pass if it had trans-inclusive language.

“The fact of the matter is, we’ve been canvassing this -- the votes just are not there for a trans-inclusive bill,” said Steven Adamske, spokesman for Rep. Barney Frank, sponsor of the original bill. Reps. Frank and Tammy Baldwin, the only openly gay members of Congress, called for the count after they learned House speaker Nancy Pelosi feared the measure lacked enough support to pass. Continue.

Senate Democrats Tack Hate-Crimes Bill Onto Pentagon Spending Bill

The Senate attached hate-crimes legislation to a must-pass Pentagon spending bill Thursday, but opponents predicted it ultimately would fail.

In a bipartisan vote of 60–39, the Senate accepted cloture, which ended debate on the bill, and then moved to approve the Matthew Shepard Act by a voice vote -- attaching it as an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Defense Authorization Bill.

''The president is not going to agree to this social legislation on the defense authorization bill,'' said Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. ''This bill will get vetoed.'' Continue.

Gay Groups Unite To Oppose Stripping Trans Protections From ENDA

(Washington) Nine national LGBT organizations announced Thursday they would fight any attempt to strip protections from the transgendered from the Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA. Continue.

How did the T get in LGBT?

The 30-year fight for a federal gay civil rights law may fail because activists insist on including rights for transgendered people too. Has gay inclusiveness gone too far too fast?

WASHINGTON -- Like an ever-expanding mushroom cloud of diversity, every few years America's gay leaders and activists welcome a new category of member to the community. Wikipedia walks us through our complicated family history:

"LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered] or GLBT are the most common terms [to describe the gay community] ... When not inclusive of transgender people it is shortened to LGB. It may also include two additional Qs for queer and questioning (sometimes abbreviated with a question mark) (LGBTQ, LGBTQQ, GLBTQ2); a variant being LGBU, where U stands for "unsure", an I for intersex (LGBTI), another T for transsexual (LGBTT), another T (or TS or the numeral 2) for two-spirited people, and an A for straight allies or asexual (LGBTA). At its fullest, then, it is some permutation of LGBTTTIQQA."

In simpler times we were all gay. But then the word "gay" started to mean "gay men" more than women, so we switched to the more inclusive "gay and lesbian." Bisexuals, who were only part-time gays, insisted that we add them too, so we did (not without some protest), and by the early 1990s we were the lesbian, gay and bisexual, or LGB community. Sometime in the late '90s, a few gay rights groups and activists started using a new acronym, LGBT -- adding T for transgender/transsexual. And that's when today's trouble started. Continue.

Background by JewsOnFirst, September 20, 2007

As Congress moves toward a vote on legislation to bar workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, the Christian right is unleashing extreme rhetoric to whip up homophobia among its followers. "If ENDA is signed into law, homosexuals, cross-dressers, drag queens, transsexuals, and even she-males will be considered protected minorities under federal law," incited the Traditional Values Coalition. Using the logo pictured here, Focus on the Family argued that the bill, known as ENDA, is bad for business.

Speak Out Against Employment Discrimination!

National Council of Jewish Women is sending messages to Congress, September 18, 2007

The House will soon consider the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), legislation that would extend the fair employment practices under federal law to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals. The bill is based on the principle that workers should be judged exclusively on their merits as an employee when being hired or fired. ENDA includes the same procedures and remedies as other federal civil rights laws, like Title VII or the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Although some states and many businesses have passed laws to protect such workers, in 33 states, it is still legal to fire or refuse to hire someone because of their sexual orientation. And in 42 states, people can be fired or denied employment due to their gender identity. Passing ENDA would be an essential means of extending important federal civil rights protections to all Americans. Continue.

Majority Of Americans Support Passage Of Federal Gay Job Protections

(Washington) Nearly two-thirds of all American adults believe it is unfair that federal law currently allows for an employer to fire someone because they are gay or lesbian according to a new poll.

The survey also found that almost as many people were not even aware that federal law does not provide protections for employees on the basis of sexual orientation.

The poll was conducted online by Harris Interactive in conjunction with Witeck-Combs for Out & Equal, a San Francisco-based national LGBT group that advocates for equitable workplaces. Continue.

Congress Debates Non-Discrimination Bill's Exemptions for Religious Employers

By Anne Farris, The Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy, September 11, 2007

More than four decades ago, Congress passed a major civil rights bill that prohibited job discrimination based on race, sex, age, color, national origin, and religion. It later passed laws protecting disabled workers from employment bias.

But, in what has perhaps been a sign of the times, federal laws have not so far included a safeguard against another type of discrimination - that based on sexual orientation.

Last week, Congress began considering a bill - the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) of 2007 - that that would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. It includes exemptions for religious organizations. Continue.

House Committee Hears From Gay Victims Of Job Discrimination

(Washington) A string of gays and lesbians told a House committee on Wednesday of being fired solely because of their sexuality and called on Congress to enact the Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

The bill was introduced in Congress in April (story). If passed and signed by the president it be illegal to fire, refuse to hire or refuse to promote an employee based on the person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

Brooke Waits, a Texas cell phone company employee, told the committee of being terminated because anti-gay job discrimination. Continue.

Deadly and Determined--The Left's Relentless Assault on Decency

That’s the only way I know to describe the left’s unwillingness to understand that the majority of American’s still believe that homosexuality is a moral choice that they oppose and do not want forced upon them or their children. Yet every time we turn them back, they return with a new approach.

Earlier this year millions of Americans said no to hate crimes legislation which provided special status to homosexuals. Our sources in Washington tell us this horrible affront to free speech and freedom of religion is about to surface again so be prepared. We will keep you informed with up to the minute developments.

This time it’s ENDA, which is an acronym for Employers Non-discrimination Act. While it sounds so fair and innocent, once you take a closer look you realize that once again, homosexuals and their allies in Congress are seeking to force people of faith to affirm and even participate in what we clearly believe to be wrong, based on our theological convictions.Continue.

Take Action: Business Community Stands Against ENDA

Legislation would put homosexuals' rights above employers.' Is your organization "religious enough," or could you be forced to hire homosexual employees? If a male employee comes to work dressed as a woman, what can you do? What about a female news anchor who undergoes a "transition" to become a man?

If the Employment Non-Discrimination Act becomes law, it's likely the courts will decide all of that for you. Last week, the U.S. House Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee held a hearing on the dangerous Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The full House could vote on the bill this month.

ENDA would prohibit employers from making employment decisions — such as hiring, promotions and firing — based on an individual's "actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity." Organizations deemed "religious enough" would be exempt.Click here to view the PDF document.

An Urgent Message From Tvc Chairman Rev. Louis P. Sheldon on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act

Dear TVC Supporter:
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is coming up for a vote in the House of Representatives by the end of September. ENDA will be marked up in the House Education and Labor Committee (mark up involves adding or deleting sections to the bill) on September 19 and a vote in the full house is expected the following week. ENDA is federal legislation designed to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to federal law. If ENDA is signed into law, homosexuals, cross-dressers, drag queens, transsexuals, and even she-males will be considered protected minorities under federal law. ENDA applies to any business with 15 or more employees and will impact religious organizations as well. Click here to view the PDF document.