Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) vote tests our values. An incrementalist law is a blunder.
For the past few weeks, members of Congress and leaders within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community have debated how best to advance the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). This legislation was initially intended to protect LGBT Americans from arbitrary firing and other forms of employment discrimination.
While states as diverse as Iowa and California already protect LGBT Americans from employment discrimination, 31 states still do not. Thus, there is overwhelming public support for federal employment protections. Reflecting this, a 2006 Gallup Poll reveals that 89 percent of respondents favor equal employment opportunities for gay people.
However, Republicans in Congress are pandering to their extreme right wing by refusing to support basic workplace equality for LGBT people. In the face of this opposition, some ENDA advocates led by openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., have introduced a compromised version of the legislation that retains the anti-discrimination protections for sexual orientation while it excludes the more contested protections for gender identity. This incrementalist version of ENDA pragmatically embraces more mainstream gays and lesbians while it continues to leave transgender Americans vulnerable to discrimination.
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