The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is the legislation proposed in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. This legislation pertains to all civilian, non-religious employers with at least 15 employees.
According to poll data issued by the Center for American Progress in June 2011, 89% of Americans believe that workplace protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees already exist and are unaware that it is legal to discriminate against a person based on sexual orientation or gender identity under U.S. federal law. In 29 states, it's legal to fire someone simply for being gay, lesbian or bisexual, and in 34 states, employers can legally fire someone for being transgender. If approved, ENDA would protect LGBT employees across the country from discrimination based on irrational prejudice.
On June 4, 2013 Out & Equal Workplace Advocates released A Broken Bargain, a comprehensive landmark report in partnership with the Movement Advancement Project, the Center for American Progress, the Human Rights Campaign, Freedom to Work, SEIU, the National Center for Transgender Equality, the National Partnership for Women and Families and the Small Business Majority. The report details how LGBT employees might have the same job as a coworker, yet be legally fired, denied equal benefits and required to pay thousands of dollars more in taxes simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. A Broken Bargain: Discrimination, Fewer Benefits and More Taxes for LGBT Workers illustrates how America’s basic bargain—that those who work hard can get ahead—is broken for LGBT workers. The report vividly demonstrates that antiquated and discriminatory laws make it harder for LGBT workers to provide for themselves and their families, and offers detailed policy recommendations for addressing those inequities.
Click here to view the executive summary [1].
View the condensed version [2].
View the full report [3].
Equality advocates have been trying to pass workplace protection laws for more than thirty years. In 1974, on the fifth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Representatives Bella Abzug (D-NY) and Ed Koch (D-NY) introduced the Equality Act, which would have extended sexual orientation to the protected classes specified in the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act. In the early 1990s, supporters of the legislation decided to focus on employment.
ENDA has been introduced every Congress since 1994, except the 109th (effectively 2005-2006). In 2007 gender identity provisions were added to the bill. Some sponsors were of the opinion that these additions would make the bill difficult to pass and gender identity was dropped from the bill. It passed in the House, but died in the Senate. Even if it had passed the Senate, former President George W. Bush had stated his intention to veto the bill if passed. To add to the complications, legislators and LGBT organizations were divided over the modified bill. Some organizations, including Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, felt that it was simply unfair to exclude gender identity from a workplace protection bill.
In 2009, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced a transgender inclusive version of ENDA in the House. He introduced it again in 2011 and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced it into the Senate. President Barack Obama supports the bill’s passage.
On April 25, 2013 Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) introduced an ENDA bill in the House (H.R. 1755) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced and ENDA bill in the Senate (S. 815). The bill has 172 co-sponsors in the House and 48 in the Senate. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) will be holding a hearing on ENDA sometime in July 2013. The exact date has yet to be set. Out & Equal continues to work with companies and organizations to implement fully inclusive institutional policies similar to what ENDA would provide employees.
The decision on whether Congress will move forward with ENDA rests with the leadership of the United States House of Representatives, the Senate and the HELP Committee. The time is now for us to tell the new Speaker of the House, John Boehner, and our House Representatives that they must protect all Americans from discrimination by moving ENDA forward immediately. It is not acceptable to continue waiting. Speak up by contacting your representative’s office and your senator’s office and ask for their support on ENDA.
Watch this space for template resources and action alerts in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, to reach your House Representative, call the U.S. capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, provide your zip code and ask to be connected to your House Representative. Contact your member of Congress and encourage him/her to co-sponsor the bill. You can locate your Representative here [4].
Write your State Senator [5]
As we all know, 60 votes in the Senate are needed to forestall a filibuster by opponents of the bill. The support of Republican Senators will be key in reaching that goal. Many Senators will take their lead from the Republican Members of the HELP Committee. The support of these three Republican Senators who sit on the HELP Committee is essential:
Richard Burr (NC)
Orrin Hatch (UT)
Lisa Murkowski (AK)
If you happen to live in their state, we encourage you to watch this space for action alerts and schedule an in-district visit with your Senator over the 4th July recess: June 29 – July 7.
We are continually striving to provide resources that will help create better workplaces for LGBT individuals, in our mission for workplace equality for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, expression, or characteristics.
Out & Equal Resources
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• Read the 2013 Business Case for LGBT-Friendly Policies [6] released May 2013 by the Williams institute
• Understand how discrimination in the public sector affects LGBT government workers in the Center for American Progress' report: Gay and Transgender Discrimination in the Public Sector [7].
• Read the latest Out & Equal blog posts on the status of ENDA and other non-discrimination laws [8].
• Read about the "20 Steps to an Out & Equal Workplace [9]," and use the toolkit to learn how to put them into practice.
• Wondering where LGBT employees are? Learn more about best practices for LGBT Self IDentification Metrics [10] in the 2009 Self ID Report.
• Take a look at the Advocacy Frontier [11].
• Read up on the findings presented in the Council for Global Equality's latest report, Anchoring Equality: How US Corporations Can Build Equal and Inclusive Work Environments [12].
• Read the William Institute's report "Bias in the Workplace: Consistent Evidence of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination [13]," documenting the widespread and persistent pattern of employment discrimination against LGBT people in both private and public employment.
Mobilizing and Organizing Resources
• Passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act: A ToolKit, from the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force [14], provides useful information on media, outreach, mobilizing and organizing.
Maps of LGBT rights [15]
Visualize equality across the United States with the Movement Advancement Project's state-by-state interactive maps.
Links:
[1] http://outandequal.org/documents/brokenbargain/a-broken-bargain-executive-summary.pdf
[2] http://outandequal.org/documents/brokenbargain/a-broken-bargain-condensed-version.pdf
[3] http://outandequal.org/documents/brokenbargain/a-broken-bargain-full-report.pdf
[4] http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
[5] http://1.usa.gov/19PZ8CY
[6] http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Business-Impact-of-LGBT-Policies-May-2013.pdf
[7] http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/report/2012/08/30/35114/gay-and-transgender-discrimination-in-the-public-sector/
[8] http://outandequal.wordpress.com/category/non-discrimination-laws/
[9] http://outandequal.org/steps-to-equal-workplace
[10] http://outandequal.org/documents/LGBTSelfIdentificationReport.pdf
[11] http://outandequal.org/advocacy-frontier
[12] http://outandequal.org/anchoringequalityreport
[13] http://www.law.ucla.edu/WilliamsInstitute/publications/Bias in the Workplace.pdf
[14] http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/ppga/enda_toolkit_8_08.pdf?tr=y&auid=3991423
[15] http://lgbtmap.org/equality-maps