By Lisa Keen
The LGBT community erupted in anger 20 months ago when U.S. Rep. Barney Frank introduced a version of ENDA that excluded protection for "gender identity." Critics also charged that the 2007 Employment Non-Discrimination Act was "riddled with loopholes" that rendered it significantly weakened even for lesbians and gay men in the workplace. Frank said a bill including protections for transgendered people simply didn't have the votes.
Times have changed. Transgender people have lobbied. And Frank says the support has grown for a fully inclusive bill
Frank on Wednesday introduced a 2009 version of the legislation, which seeks to prohibit discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
"I think we're in good shape on it," said Frank, in an interview Monday. "The transgender community -I will credit," said Frank. "I wish other people in the community were following them. …They did the grassroots lobbying very well."
Frank said there were three reasons for optimism around passage of an inclusive ENDA now. First, he said, the House has already held a hearing on including transgender in the bill. Second, there are 21 new Democrats in the House since the 2008 elections, and "14 or 15" are likely supporters of the bill. The 2007 version of ENDA passed the House on a vote of 235 to 184.
And third, there is no threat of a presidential veto looming over the legislation.
In 2007, noted Frank, some legislators were reluctant to support a potentially controversial bill when the expectation was that then-President George W. Bush would veto it. In contrast, President Obama has said he would support a fully inclusive ENDA.
But Frank was making no predictions around the Senate, where the Democratic majority has begun to require 60 votes before proceeding with a vote, in order to avoid a filibuster.
"I think we're in good shape in the Senate," said Frank, "but the trouble is that damn 60."
Asked at Wednesday's press conference whether there were any circumstances under which gender identity could be removed from the bill, Frank was emphatic: "No, we're beyond that."
Supporters of the bill say they expect a hearing in a House subcommittee next month and a floor vote this year.
Many of the organizations that criticized Frank's version of ENDA in 2007, applauded the new bill.
One particularly harsh critic, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a gay litigation group, applauded the new ENDA, calling it a "powerful tool" for fighting anti-gay discrimination in the courts. Lambda noted that workplace discrimination is the "number one complaint" of people who call its Legal Help Desk.
Mara Keisling of the National Center for Transgender Equality said the group is "really very excited" about prospects for the bill.
"This is the language we've all been working for," said Keisling following Wednesday's press conference on Capitol Hill. She acknowledged there are "some compromises." The legislation still includes an exemption for religious organizations that Keisling says is "too broad…" But she said "there are reasons why that's in there" and she is otherwise "very excited and satisfied" with the legislation.
In the fall of 2007, Frank soundly criticized groups for demanding that gender identity be included in the bill, saying that, while such inclusion might make the bill stronger, such critics "rarely are helpful to us in getting the votes to get it through."
But in an interview with this paper on Monday, Frank praised the transgender community's work in lobbying members of Congress to both get votes and educate them on the issue.
"We're dealing with literal ignorance here," said Frank. "I remember when I was doing gay rights, people didn't know anything about it. Same thing here. We had transgender people lobbying –not only to get votes but to educate people."
Reps. Tammy Baldwin and Jared Polis who, with Frank, represent the only three openly gay legislators in the 535-member Congress, also co-sponsored this year's ENDA. Baldwin this week also introduced a new bill -the Ending Health Disaparities for LGBT Americans Act. The bill seeks to fund research and data collection on LGBT health related issues and to establish non-discrimination policies for all federal health programs.
Keisling said Baldwin's bill covers a wide range of disparities that affect LGBT people and that, while it will take some time to build up support for such new legislation, "this is a great vehicle for eduacating Congress and the public about the kinds of things folks face."
(c) 2009 Keen News Service
