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Gay bills introduced in Congress

by Rex Wockner

U.S. NEWS

Two recurring LGBT-rights measures were introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in April – the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Uniting American Families Act.
ENDA would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in workplaces that have 15 or more employees.
UAFA would give U.S. citizens and permanent residents the right to sponsor a same-sex permanent partner for U.S. residence – a right that is available to opposite-sex binational spouses.
"Thousands of committed same-sex couples are needlessly suffering because of unequal treatment under our immigration laws, and this is an outrage," U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said in announcing UAFA's introduction.
Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said: "Our nation's discriminatory immigration laws force binational same-sex families to decide between breaking up or living in exile. No American family should face this decision."
According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, at least 25 nations allow residents to sponsor same-sex permanent partners for legal immigration, including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
ENDA and UAFA may face a tough road in Congress, in part because Republicans control the House of Representatives.
Laws similar to ENDA exist in 21 states and Washington, D.C. for sexual orientation and in 12 states and D.C. for gender identity.

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Topics: News
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