ENDA bill passes house, 235-184.

[SirNitram]

For those that don't know, the ENDA bill that would grant protections to gays, lesbians, and bisexuals has passed the House today. It's been a long time in the running, and I think, admist all the failures of the Democrats to grow a pair and step up, it should be celebrated when this got this far. I've no illusions: It will be vetoed, even if it's not filibustered. But for the moment, a bit of celebration.

It's not all champagne and happiness, though, as the group working to introduce an amendment to include transgender protections onto it as well pulled the amendment at the last second, apparently unable to muster the votes.

Still. I've not found any articles announcing the success through the House yet, so please, help me out if you find 'em.

[Frank Hipper]

I just got a confirmation E-mail from HRC.

Happy day, I'm that much closer to not having to worry about ever being fired for homersexurality.

(EDIT) Geez, hows aboot some text?

Dear Frank,
Today, I witnessed something that just a year ago seemed nearly impossible. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

We are one step closer to our ultimate goal of ensuring that all GLBT Americans no longer live in fear of losing their jobs.

The progress we've made today is historic - it is the first time either house of Congress has passed employment protections of this kind. It took over 30 years of lobbying and grassroots political work to get to this point, and while the bill that finally passed was not the fully inclusive version we sought, this represents a major advance - and the best way to move towards our long-term goal of protecting our entire community.

HRC first helped introduce ENDA 13 years ago, to prevent workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. This year, gender identity was added to the bill. Unfortunately, gender identity was not covered in the version that passed today, but this vote was a first and absolutely necessary step towards equality for GLBT people in the workplace.

That's why HRC joined with a coalition of major civil rights groups who declared support for the bill before the final vote, including the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR includes more than 192 national civil rights organizations), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), and the National Education Association (NEA).

Supporting this version of the bill was a difficult and painful decision. But, without a doubt, the only path to achieving a bill protecting our whole community was by achieving the successful House vote today. A defeat of ENDA would have set back the possibility of an inclusive bill for many, many years.

HRC remains 100% committed to doing the hard work necessary to pass legislation that protects our entire community, including transgender workers who remain especially vulnerable to workplace discrimination.

Today, we continue our determined march towards progress. And we recommit ourselves to educating our leaders and our neighbors, to speed the day when our community will be protected, as one.

Your support has enabled HRC to lead the way in this struggle. We have formed strategic alliances in Congress, activated an unprecedented number of grassroots supporters, met with editorial boards, brought clergy to Washington to lobby their elected officials, and worked with the corporate community to expand GLBT workplace protections.

We spent years defending ourselves from anti-GLBT attacks from the radical right. Now we are on the offense. But make no mistake: the extremists who work against us every day will be working overtime to hold back our progress.

Our fight will not be won overnight - it will be won one step at a time. This has been a grueling few weeks for our community, but we have never once given up on achieving our ultimate goal of workplace equality for GLBT Americans.

Along this road, there will be challenges, but we must not allow them to divide us. We know we are working towards the same goal: equal rights for all.

We can get there, together, and we will.

Warmly,

Joe Solmonese
President

P.S. I would also like to share with you some insights of former HRC Executive Director Vic Basile - whose op-ed was published last week. I think it helps put today's victory into context as we continue down the road to a fully inclusive ENDA.

[Stravo]

You do realize that the assholes on the other side have actually trotted out this little gem as a counter argument - "This bill gives homosexuals extra rights." That's right folks - watch out for those gays grabbing up them extra rights.

[lazerus]

What "Extra Rights" does it give them exactly?

[Master of Cards]

What "Extra Rights" does it give them exactly?

The same ones everyone else has.

[SirNitram]

I bet those dastardly gays are hogging the good rights, like 'Right to skip in public.'

They get all the best extra rights.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

For those that don't know, the ENDA bill that would grant protections to gays, lesbians, and bisexuals has passed the House today. It's been a long time in the running, and I think, admist all the failures of the Democrats to grow a pair and step up, it should be celebrated when this got this far. I've no illusions: It will be vetoed, even if it's not filibustered. But for the moment, a bit of celebration.

It's not all champagne and happiness, though, as the group working to introduce an amendment to include transgender protections onto it as well pulled the amendment at the last second, apparently unable to muster the votes.

Still. I've not found any articles announcing the success through the House yet, so please, help me out if you find 'em.

Eh, they might as well veto it without that inclusion, and I'd certainly support it being killed in committee (in the Senate) because of the failure. Solidarity is necessary, and the little shitheads are trying to play a divide-and-conquer game on this by pitting the LGBT community against itself.

[Justforfun000]

It's been this long for any protection for minorities in employment? Shit, I think Canada passed something like that over 10 to 20 years ago. I can't believe I used to think our countries were like two peas in a pod. Maybe I should have read more papers instead of propoganda. heh.

[Gil Hamilton]

Eh, they might as well veto it without that inclusion, and I'd certainly support it being killed in committee (in the Senate) because of the failure. Solidarity is necessary, and the little shitheads are trying to play a divide-and-conquer game on this by pitting the LGBT community against itself.

It's an unfortunate omission, but isn't some progress better than none? Protections can be extended to transgendered people later, because this is a reasonably good precedent as a law as it is, which is why the conservatives don't like it.

It's a reasonably safe vote since most people don't mind making homosexuality a status protected from workplace discrimination, but the real reason conservatives that oppose this bill do it because they are taking the bigoted long view. This bill pretty much states that homosexuals are a real protected minority that are allowed to exist and shouldn't be discriminated against, which is something conservatives really don't want as a legal precedent. In fact, they forced the people making this bill to include language in it saying that the bill in no way should be interpreted as legalizing gay marriage (believe it or not).

I'd think that's worth having, even if it isn't entirely complete or perfect. It's something to build on, right?

[SirNitram]

You can't win the war in one day. It would have been nice to see the amendment get on, but one can only blame the group that had been insisting they get to offer it, and then yanked it at the last second.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

You can't win the war in one day. It would have been nice to see the amendment get on, but one can only blame the group that had been insisting they get to offer it, and then yanked it at the last second.

The amendment was only in the offing because Barney Frank had the gall to remove those protections in the first place from the original text, which had them, to make them more palatable to conservative democrats who were affected by conservative propaganda about "Arnold Schwarzennegger in a dress teaching your kids at school", which is utter bullshit, as what the bill would really do is keep perfectly normal women from getting fired because some asshole state like Kansas which is tranqed up on Nazi-ist theories of absolute genetic determinism will refuse to ever, ever modify their birth certificate.

So, while that was certainly an idiotic movement on their part, if Frank hadn't removed it in the first place...

I mean, what's the point of a fucking political party unless it can enforce party-line discipline on its members? In the Westminster this would have been a three whip vote, and the issue would have been settled. I really have come to hate the existing organization of our congress, mostly for other reasons, but this is supremely irritating. Do you really fault me for seeing it as a base tactic to separate the cash donations of successful, childless gay men from the rest of the LGBT community?

[Justforfun000]

It's an unfortunate omission, but isn't some progress better than none? Protections can be extended to transgendered people later, because this is a reasonably good precedent as a law as it is, which is why the conservatives don't like it.

Critics say that the minority of transgendered are so small, and typically non-vocal that if they don't include it now, they NEVER will. They kind of have a point....you need people to stand up and make it an issue and those who are transgendered tend to deal with far more stigma and self-esteem issues brought on almost entirely by society and their reaction.