Democrats on
Thursday sent to the full House legislation that would
prohibit workplace discrimination against gays, lesbians,
and bisexuals, despite bitter complaints from some
because transgender workers would not be protected
under the bill.
Democratic
leaders pushed forward the current bill after discovering
that including transgender workers in the legislation
would cause it to fail in the full House, and promised
to try and get additional legislation in the future.
''I believe that
the step we are taking today will lay the foundation for
passing these additional protections in the future,'' said
Democrat George Miller of California, chairman of the
House Education and Labor Committee.
But the exclusion
of gender identity in the bill has caused a divisive
split in the Democratic Party, with some saying they should
take advantage of the Democrats' numerical superiority
in the House to pass the first-ever federal workplace
protection for gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. Others
say the Employment Non-Discrimination Act should
include everyone in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgender population.
''We won't
support ENDA until all Americans are included,'' said
Christopher Anders, the senior legislative counsel for the
American Civil Liberties Union. ''Nobody should be cut
out or left behind simply because Democratic
leadership is too impatient to round up the votes needed to
pass a comprehensive bill.''
Four Democrats --
Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Rush Holt of New Jersey, Linda
Sanchez of California, and Yvette Clarke of New York --
voted against the bill because of its exclusion of
gender identity. ''We could have done better,''
Sanchez said.
Rep. Lynn
Woolsey, a California Democrat, said some Democrats led by
Rep. Tammy Baldwin will try to include
transgender-worker protection with an
amendment on the House floor before a final vote.
The committee
passed the bill 27-21, with all but four of the Republican
members voting against the bill.
''When you strive
to protect some people, you take away protections of
other people,'' said Rep. Howard ''Buck'' McKeon, a
Republican from California. ''That is the difficulty,
and I think some of us on this side are representing
some of those people that feel like as good as your
intentions are, you're taking away their rights in their
religious beliefs and dealings on a day-to-day
basis.''
''Sexual
orientation is not the same as race, gender, or age, which
do not depend on perception at all,'' said Rep. Mark
Souder, an Indiana Republican. ''This is a
possible litigation nightmare, where perceptions are
enough to cause lawsuits resulting to a hostile workplace
for those with moral or religious concerns regarding
homosexuality.''
The Employment
Non-Discrimination Act would make it illegal for employers
to make decisions about hiring, firing, promoting, or paying
an employee based on sexual orientation. Churches and
the military would be exempt.
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, and
Washington. The District of Columbia also has a similar law.
By January laws
also will be in effect in Iowa, Vermont, Colorado and
Oregon. (Jesse J. Holland, AP)