Rep. Barney Frank
introduced a bill Wednesday to ban workplace discrimination
based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Rep. Barney Frank
introduced a bill Wednesday to ban workplace discrimination
based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
"I am encouraged that
we are going to be able to do this year what we were not able
to do a couple years ago, and that is pass a fully inclusive
bill," Frank said at a press conference preceding the
introduction. The House approved an employment
nondiscrimination bill in 2007, but it did not include
protections for transgender Americans.
The 2009 Employment
Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) has 121 original cosponsors, up
from 62 cosponsors for the trans-inclusive bill of 2007.
No Senate companion
legislation exists, but Frank said he was talking with several
senators about it. He said he expected a hearing on the bill
would be held in July and a committee markup would take place
in September. "We are on track to pass this bill through the
House this year," he said.
Frank also urged people
to lobby on behalf of the bill, adding, "You can now take for
granted that there will be a vote on the floor of the House of
Representatives, almost certainly this calendar year, on a
fully inclusive ENDA."
Rep. Tammy Baldwin
noted that the bill held special significance for two reasons.
"There are people across the country who live in
jurisdictions where there are no protections -- whose very jobs
are at risk," she said. In 30 states people can be fired
simply for being gay, while transgender people can be fired in
38 states.
Baldwin also
highlighted the fact that ENDA would be the "first piece of
major LGBT civil rights legislation ever enacted by this
Congress."
She added that passing
the legislation would create "a new day" in which Congress
has acknowledged that discrimination against LGBT people exists
and has outlawed it. "Once you've said that," she remarked,
"it creates the moment and the opportunity for us to take
further steps."
Rep. Jared Polis
also attended the briefing, as did representatives
from the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force, and the National Center for Transgender
Equality.
"We are
enthusiastic," said Mara Keisling, executive director of
NCTE, "and if LGBT people focus and eat what's on their
plate, we're going to get this thing passed this year."
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