The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, H.R. 3017
A Message from Mara Keisling
I have no doubt we can pass a transgender-inclusive ENDA this year if we all do the work now to educate Congress and the public. In an interview last fall, Rep Barney Frank (D-MA) agreed saying:
"The more Democrats we have, and obviously, not every Democrat votes with us, the better we'll do. If we can pick up 15 Democratic seats, then I think we are in good position to pass a transgender-inclusive ENDA." (Barney Frank on 365Gay.com)
Of course he's right, not every Democrat votes with us and not every Republican votes against us. That's why the best work we can be doing now to get us in position for winning our rights in 2009 is the work of building relationships and educating all of our lawmakers - whoever they are, where ever they are.
When I'm visiting lawmakers on Capitol Hill one thing I hear far too often is that lawmakers don't think they have transgender people in their districts. You and I know that is impossible - we are every where. I can visit your representatives everyday up on the Hill, but they really need to hear from you and to meet you face to face. It does make a difference!
Over the coming weeks, we'll keep you up to date about what's happening. We need to have everybody involved. Working together, we can pass a transgender-inclusive ENDA in 2009. Please join us in this work.
Here is what you can do for ENDA:
- Set up a meeting this August with your Representative at his/her district office and with your Senators in their state offices. You can find out who they are on our Visit Legislators page. Then check out our ENDA Toolkit with all of the information you need to educate your member of Congress about ENDA. You will need to act very soon to get a meeting for August. Do it today!
- Call or write your member of Congress and ask them to support ENDA. Sample texts are available in our Toolkit.
- Support our work and make a donation to NCTE. So many of us are already stretched for time. If you can't squeeze one more activity into your busy schedule, please donate to NCTE so we can keep working to build a powerful network of members and allies all over the country.
What is ENDA?
Key features of the bill include:
- This legislation would address discrimination in the workplace by making it illegal to fire, refuse to hire, or refuse to promote an employee simply based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. It would reinforce the principle that employment decisions should be based upon a person’s qualifications and job performance.
- ENDA closely follows the model of existing federal civil rights laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, ensuring that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are treated in the same way as other groups protected under law – no better, no worse.
Who supports equal employment:
- Most of America’s smartest business minds understand that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity has nothing to do with their job performance. That is why 200 Fortune 500 companies include gender identity in their nondiscrimination policies.
- Federal law has also been outpaced by the actions of state and local leaders. Thirty-seven percent of the country, including thirteen states, the District of Columbia and more than 90 cities and counties, have passed protections for the transgender community.
Why ENDA Must Contain Explicit Protections for Gender Identity
- ENDA should protect the entire gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community from unequal treatment in the workplace, especially those of us who are most vulnerable to discrimination.
- The LGBT community is one community, and we want to move forward, together, in one bill.
- Including explicit protections against discrimination based on gender identity not only helps transgender people; it also strengthens ENDA for the rest of our community by ensuring that an employer cannot fire or refuse to hire a gay employee for an “effeminate” walk or a lesbian employee for dressing “too butch.”
- Despite advances in protecting transgender people on the state and local level, as well as in the private sector, it remains perfectly legal in 37 states to fire someone solely based on his or her gender identity.
- Recent national surveys have found that 65% of people believe it should be illegal to discriminate against transgender people in employment.
View the Status of ENDA