Journalism: ENDA Vote to Come Soon

How sad is it that I wrote this article in 2007 and ENDA STILL hasn’t passed? :( 

(Originally published in Broadside on October 1, 2007)

The Employee Non Discrimination Act, a bill addressing discrimination in the workplace towards members of the LGBT community, is coming up in Congress soon, the third time such a bill has been brought before the floor of congress.

“It’s still legal in 31 states to fire someone because of their sexual orientation and in 39 states to fire someone because of their gender identity,” said Brian Walton, associate counsel for the Human Rights Campaign. The Human Rights Campaign is a self-described civil rights organization which advocates on behalf of LGBT Americans.

In its original form, ENDA, which was sponsored by openly gay Representative Barney Frank (D-Ma.), would have added on to Title XII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protections against discrimination determined by sexual orientation or gender identity in the workplace. Last Thursday, Frank and House leadership determined that ENDA would be split into two bills, one for protections on sexual orientation and one for protections on gender identity.

“In the crunch the official Whip count taken in contemplation of the bill it became very clear that while we would retain a significant majority of Democrats, we would lose enough so that a bill that included transgender protection would lose if not amended, and that an anti-transgender amendment would pass,” said a statement released by Frank.

Numerous LGBT-rights organizations that helped create the original wording of the latest ENDA bill spoke out in protest of the taking out of the transgender provisions.

“The breaking news that the House has decided to move forward on a non-discrimination bill that is not inclusive of gender identity is devastating,” said Joe Solomonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, in a statement. “The Human Rights Campaign remains dedicated to the fight for full equality for our entire community and, in light of this new reality, continues to consult with members of Congress and our lobbyists to determine how we can achieve that goal.”

“If the Democratic Congress takes the gender identity and expression clause out of ENDA, they’re a bunch of cowards for not realizing that any discrimination is all discrimination,” said George Mason University alumna Allison Medwin, who identifies as queer. “It’s wrong. Either they’re committed to stopping discrimination for those who face it or they’re not.”

“I believe that it would be a grave error to let this opportunity . . . pass,” said Congressman Frank in his statement.

In its original form, ENDA had 117 co-sponsors, including Virginia’s own James Moran (D) and Bobby Scott (D). It was the first bill with gender identity protection language included.

“Most people don’t get that it’s still legal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Ric Chollar, the Associate Director for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning Resources at Mason. “Building recognition of sexual orientation and gender identity in the federal law is crucial.”

The first legislation that tried to protect sexual orientation with federal civil rights laws was introduced in 1976, 12 years after the Civil Rights Act was passed. In 1994, the first bill known as ENDA was introduced. Two years later, ENDA came within one vote of passage in the Senate, during the backlash to the Defense of Marriage act passed under President Clinton’s administration. The last major legislative action on ENDA was taken in 2002, when the Senate Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on ENDA and favorably reported the bill to the Senate floor.

ENDA would have been the first legislation of its kind. The way ENDA is drafted, before the taking out of the gender identity clause, it is designed to act as a leader on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and would work to prohibit discrimination based on the actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity of an employee or applicant. It would not allow employers to use quotas with regard to sexual orientation or gender identity, would not require employers to provide domestic partner benefits and would not apply to employers with under fifteen employees. ENDA also does not apply to private membership clubs, the armed forces, or religious employers. While religious groups are not permitted to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity, they can exercise a preference for co-religionists and require employees to conform to the religion’s tenets and teachings.

“ENDA is really important to us because we need people to be informed. This affects us our entire lives; with the so called marriage amendment it was really an issue for people who wanted to get married,” Alex Gant, co-chair of Mason’s Pride Alliance, said. “This is going to affect everyone our entire lives. It’s about working – everyone has to work – everyone at some point in their lives will have to work somewhere where they’re probably going to be discriminated against.”

Several cases citing workplace discrimination against employees because of sexual orientation or gender identity have been brought forward in several states, with few finding recourse because of the lack of legal protection in most states. Only 17 states ban sexual orientation-based discrimination and seven bar bias against transgender employees. The District of Columbia currently has laws in place protecting against discrimination by sexual orientation or gender identity in the public and private sectors. Virginia has no laws on the subject.

Currently, Mason includes sexual orientation in its non-discrimination policy. Also, the Cities of Alexandria and Falls Church, along with Arlington and Fairfax Counties prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The addition of gender identity and gender expression to the existing non-discrimination policy at Mason is under discussion. However, at the state level, the Commonwealth of Virginia does not include sexual orientation, gender identity or expression in its anti-discrimination laws.

“There’s a little bit of judgment for what you can and cannot do. They can see you doing retail, but other work is different,” said Dan Odom, a junior and Broadside staff reporter.

Bush has not yet commented on the ENDA bill or said how he would approach it if it passed in Congress.

The ENDA bill without trans-inclusion will be marked up by the chamber's Education and Labor Committee next Tuesday so that it can be sent it to the House floor for a vote.