LGBT Groups Oppose ENDA As Is

Don’t just take my title as a reason to get all worked up over the issue of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. There’s a valid reason groups like HCR, GLAD and the ACLU are suddenly against this vital piece of legislation. Read on…

WASHINGTON — Some of the largest national LGBT rights groups — unified on the marriage equality fight in recent years — have begun a very public debate over a piece of another key goal: religious exemptions in employment protections.

The fight, which broke out into the open on Tuesday, is about scope of religious exemptions in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which was passed by the Senate this past fall. Notably, it comes as an executive order about employment protections is being drafted at the White House and in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court ruling in Hobby Lobby.

While the debate isn’t new, the method of raising the stakes of the debate on Tuesday was stark: Seven national organizations — including the ACLU and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force — announced in three separate statements that they were withdrawing their support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act due to its current, broad religious exemption.

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Gay rights bill moves forward as opposition silent

I’m not very trusting with this. I feel as this silence is the calm before the storm.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Invoking the Declaration of Independence, proponents of a bill that would outlaw discrimination against gays in the workplace argued on Tuesday that the measure is rooted in fundamental fairness for all Americans.

Republican opponents of the measure were largely silent, neither addressing the issue on the second day of Senate debate nor commenting unless asked. Written statements from some rendered their judgment that the bill would result in costly, frivolous lawsuits and mandate federal law based on sexuality.

The Senate moved closer to completing its work on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that would prohibit workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said a final vote in the Senate is possible by week’s end.

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Obama turns blogger to make pitch for gay rights bill

This is the link to President Obama’s blog post: Congress Needs to Pass ENDA

President Obama turned blogger on Sunday night, making an impassioned plea in the Huffington Post for Congress to pass a long-delayed measure to ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The bill, called the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, is set for a Senate vote on Monday, and proponents are upbeat about its prospects for passage.

Obama writes that while Americans can’t lose their jobs because of race, religion, gender, or disability, “in many states a person can be fired simply for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.”

The president continues: “It’s offensive. It’s wrong. And it needs to stop, because in the United States of America, who you are and who you love should never be a fireable offense.”

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ENDA Set For Monday Night Vote

Keeping fingers crossed.

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told his Democratic caucus on Thursday that he will bring the Employment Nondiscrimination Act up for a vote on Monday, a senior Democratic aide told The Huffington Post.

Reid will file a procedural motion on Thursday evening to begin debate on the bill, setting up a Monday evening vote. The bill needs to get 60 votes to clear a procedural hurdle ahead of the final vote, and as of Thursday, 59 senators publicly support it. Meanwhile, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), whose son is gay, said Tuesday he is “inclined to support” the bill.

Momentum behind the bill, which would ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, suddenly picked up this week. Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who were the three remaining Democratic holdouts, all jumped aboard in the past few days.

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Harry Reid Will Bring ENDA Up For Senate Vote

Something new for us to keep an eye on…

If you’re in Arkansas, Florida or West Virginia, please contact these Senators and tell them you want them to support this bill.

WASHINGTON — The Employment Non-Discrimination Act could come up for a vote in the Senate as early as next week, according to the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

ENDA would ban workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The Senate will convene Monday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. At that time, Reid will announce his plans to bring up ENDA during the current work period, which ends the week before Thanksgiving. Reid has long been a supporter of ENDA, cosponsoring it as early as 1997.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced the bill in the Senate on April 25, and it currently has 54 cosponsors. Every single Democratic senator has signed on, with the exception of Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.).

“I thank Majority Leader Reid for committing to bring ENDA to the floor this work period,” Merkley said in a statement to The Huffington Post. “Americans understand that it’s time to make sure our LGBT friends and family are treated fairly and have the same opportunities. Now it’s time for our laws to catch up. People should be judged at work on their ability to do the job, period.”

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Employment Non-Discrimination Act Passes Senate Committee

Like most Americans, I had assumed all this time that there was some sort of protection for us against being fired from our jobs. Although I told one co-worker a few years ago about my “orientation” in a rather indirect manner, I don’t typically speak of my relationship to anyone but close friends. It’s certainly none of their business. I also know that my current employer has previously employed a Lesbian and she left on her own terms, not due to being fired over her “orientation”. I know that’s not always the case, but I think in the future I would endeavour to find employment somewhere that is either gay friendly or where, like here, they don’t give a fig. So, I’d never dream of working at a religious institution of any kind.

I hope this protection moves forward. Soon.

WASHINGTON — LGBT rights advocates chalked up a win on Wednesday as a Senate committee passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions passed the bill, 15 to 7. All Democrats supported it, along with three Republicans: Sens. Mark Kirk (Ill.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Orrin Hatch (Utah). The Republicans who voted no included Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Mike Enzi (Wyo.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Rand Paul (Ky.), Pat Roberts (Kansas) and Tim Scott (S.C.).

Kirk is a cosponsor of the bill and was expected to support it, while Murkowski was mum when asked on Tuesday how she planned to vote. Hatch told The Huffington Post on Tuesday that he planned to support the bill.

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ENDA 2013 and Transgender People

I will admit freely that I do not understand the whole transgender thing. And the very limited exposure I’ve had turned me off in a huge way because they were M-to-F and just automatically assumed I wanted a relationship when I wasn’t, even though I was single. That being said, though, I do believe they deserve the same rights and protections as the gay/lesbian community.

This is an infographic I pulled from the Huffington Post website. At the bottom I will provide the link to the accompanying story.

 

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