Rep. Barney
Frank, a leading gay rights champion in Congress, on
Thursday urged fellow gay rights advocates not to let
their dispute over protecting transgender workers doom
a job discrimination ban that could mark a major civil
rights advance for gays in the workplace.
The debate over
including transgender people has sharply divided gay
rights activists, many of whom are trying to kill a
stripped-down bill without protections for transgender
workers that Frank and Democratic leaders hope will
win House passage this year.
''We're not going
to be split off this way,'' said Matt Foreman,
executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force. ''We're driven by principle. No civil rights
movement has ever left a part of its community behind
-- and we're not about to be the first.''
Frank, a
Massachusetts Democrat and one of two openly gay members of
Congress, supports transgender protections, but said the
votes needed for approval aren't there.
''Politically,
the notion that you don't do anything until you can do
everything is self-defeating,'' he said.
Frank said the
public has more awareness because gay activists began
educating people about the unfairness of prejudice based on
sexual orientation a long time ago.
''These things
take awhile,'' Frank said. ''The transgender issue is of
relatively recent vintage.''
Legislation
banning workplace discrimination against gays, lesbians and
bisexuals -- but not those who have had sex-change surgery
or cross-dressers -- has stalled after an outcry from
the transgender community and its allies, including
many gay rights organizations.
''Transgender''
is an umbrella term that covers transsexuals,
cross-dressers, and others whose outward appearance doesn't
match their gender at birth.
The Employment
Non-Discrimination Act, as written previously, would
make it illegal for employers to make decisions about
hiring, firing, promoting, or paying an employee based
on sexual orientation or gender identity. Churches and
the military would be exempt.
But when
Democrats took vote counts and realized the measure would
fail, they substituted a new scaled-back version,
dropping gender identity from the bill. A second
bill was drafted to ban workplace discrimination based
on this factor.
Gay rights groups
that oppose a ban that leaves out transgender people
have waged an aggressive lobbying campaign.
''Fighting your
friends can sometimes be difficult,'' said Frank.
Foreman agreed.
''I never thought
in a million years we would be on the opposite side of
Barney Frank, and it is painful,'' he said.
Federal law bans
job discrimination based on factors such as race,
gender, and religion. Nineteen states and the District of
Columbia have laws against sexual orientation
discrimination.
However, only
nine states specifically protect transgender people from
discrimination: New Jersey, Minnesota, Rhode Island, New
Mexico, California, Illinois, Maine, Hawaii,
Washington. The District of Columbia has a similar
law.
By January, laws
also will be in effect in Iowa, Vermont, Colorado, and
Oregon. (Andrew Miga, AP)
