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 Vote On ENDA Delayed As LGBT Pressure Mounts
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: October 1, 2007 - 7:00 pm ET
(Washington) A vote to mark up a revised
version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that had been expected on
Tuesday has been put off as pressure by LGBT groups mounts on Democrats to
reinstate the measure's original language.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office confirmed late
Monday that the bill will not be considered until later in the month.
"In this defining and morally transformative
moment, our community has come together in an unprecedented way and said once
and for all that we will leave no part of our community behind," said Matt
Foreman the executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
"We appreciate that a decision has been made
to slow down this process, and we look forward to working with Congress over the
upcoming weeks to educate them as to why this substitute bill strategy is
seriously flawed, convince them to abandon this strategy, and instead advance a
fully inclusive ENDA later this month."
The act, referred to as ENDA, was reworked late
last week, stripping out protections for the transgendered. But the changes also
reduced the protections afforded gay and lesbian workers too, Lambda Legal said
earlier on Monday. (story)
"Leaving out protections for transgender
people is unacceptable, and passing a bill riddled with loopholes will make it
harder to achieve equality on the job," said Kevin Cathcart, Executive
Director at Lambda Legal.
"You can't be fired for being a lesbian or a
gay man, but you can be fired if your boss thinks you fit their stereotype of
one."
This is a huge loophole through which employers
sued for sexual orientation discrimination can claim that their conduct was
actually based on gender expression, a type of discrimination that the new bill
does not prohibit, said Lambda.
The new version of ENDA also states without
qualification that refusal by employers to extend health insurance benefits to
the domestic partners of their employees that are provided only to married
couples cannot be considered sexual orientation discrimination.
The old version provided that states and local
governments could require that employees be provided domestic partner health
insurance when such benefits are provided to spouses.
In the previous version of ENDA the religious
exemptions had some limitations. The new version has a blanket exemption under
which, for example, hospitals or universities run by faith-based groups can fire
or refuse to hire people they think might be gay or lesbian.
Last week, nine national LGBT organizations
denounced the removal of transgender protections from the bill. (story)
In a short statement Monday Pelosi's office
attempted to put a positive spin on the delay.
"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," said the statement attributed to
Pelosi, Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, and openly gay
Congressmembers Barney Frank, and Tammy Baldwin.
"This schedule will allow proponents of the
legislation to continue their discussions with Members in the interest of
passing the broadest possible bill," the statement said.
Several LGBT groups hailed the delay saying it
would help them lobby for changes.
"The step taken today by the committee to
delay action on the substitute bill is a clear demonstration of the strength of
grassroots organizing as exemplified by our members and thousands of advocates
across the country," said Jon Hoadley, the Executive Director of National
Stonewall Democrats.
"Our work isn't over until
Congress passes, and the President signs, an Employment
Non-Discrimination Act that protects all working Americans
from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender
identity," said Hoadley.
On Monday Stonewall Democrats launched
NoSubstitutes.org, an online organizing effort to mobilize people to save the
the original version of ENDA.
©365Gay.com 2007
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