Scroll To Top
World

Pelosi Delays
ENDA Markup at Behest of LGBT Activists

Pelosi Delays
ENDA Markup at Behest of LGBT Activists

Pelosi_0

Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi issued a statement Monday saying she would postpone advancing the latest version of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act that includes protections for gays and lesbians but excludes transgender people. The bill was scheduled for markup in committee on Tuesday, at which point it would have been sent to the House floor for a vote.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi issued a statement Monday saying she would postpone advancing the latest version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that includes protections for gays and lesbians but excludes transgender people. The bill was scheduled for markup in committee on Tuesday, at which point it would have been sent to the House floor for a vote.

"After discussions with congressional leaders and organizations supporting passage of ENDA, we have agreed to schedule mark-up of the bill in the Committee on Education and Labor later this month, followed by a vote in the full House," Pelosi said in press release. "This schedule will allow proponents of the legislation to continue their discussions with Members in the interest of passing the broadest possible bill."

The move was a nod to a critical mass of LGBT activists who came forward to adamantly oppose passing a version of ENDA that lacks transgender-inclusive language.

The ENDA bill originally cosponsored by Rep. Barney Frank would have made it illegal to discriminate in the workplace on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity. That bill was split in two last week when Democratic House leadership feared it could not pass based on the transgender-inclusive language.

More than 90 organizations signed on to a letter delivered to Speaker Pelosi Monday morning that urged her to postpone action on the substitute legislation.

"We ask you to keep working with us on an Employment Non-Discrimination Act that protects everyone in our community, and to oppose any substitute legislation that leaves some of us behind," read the letter, which included signatories such as the National Center for Transgender Equality, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and Lambda Legal.

The Human Rights Campaign, which has spent the past two years lobbying for a transgender-inclusive ENDA, did not sign on to the letter and has not signaled how it will proceed with the new legislation.

Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, sent out a statement of support for Pelosi's postponement. "We appreciate that a decision has been made to slow down this process," he said, "and we look forward to working with Congress over the upcoming weeks to educate them as to why this substitute bill is seriously flawed, convince them to abandon this strategy, and instead advance a fully inclusive ENDA later this month." (The Advocate)

UPDATE: The Human Rights Campaign board of directors voted Monday night not to support the new noninclusive version of the bill and to fully advocate for an ENDA that protects people from discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity. HRC's statement can be read here.

Advocate Channel - The Pride StoreOut / Advocate Magazine - Fellow Travelers & Jamie Lee Curtis

From our Sponsors

Most Popular

Latest Stories

Outtraveler Staff