Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Gay Anti-Discrimination Bill Introduced (ENDA)

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would make it illlegal to fire or refuse to hire employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity, has been reintroduced into Congress Today. It is still legal to discriminate against gays and lesbians in 33 states and in 42 states it is legal to discriminate against transgender people. A majority of Fortune 500 companies, nearly 90 percent actually, include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policies. ENDA was introduced in 1974 and came witin one vote of passing in 1996. With Democrats back in control of Congress, and some bipartisan support, passage is looking pretty good. ENDA is one of three pieces of pro-gay legislation in Congress (along with The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act and a bill to abolish the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on gays openly serving in the military.

Now that the focus is off of "gay marriage," maybe we can at least get some legislation to protect us from employment discrimination, hate crimes and anti-gay military policies. I think we have a majority of the people on our side on these issues.

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