by Bob Roehr
Progressive members of the House announced formation of the LGBT Equality Caucus on June 4. It is chaired by Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the only two openly gay members of that body.
"We represent different races, different genders, different sexual orientations and different parties, but we share a common mission: to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality," Baldwin said.
Frank added, "With a Democratic majority in the House, we now have both the opportunity and the responsibility to move towards legal equality for people who are LGBT. This caucus will play an important role in helping shape the strategy by which we do this."
All but two of the initial 52 members of the caucus are Democrats and they often have unofficially functioned as a caucus on these issues for many years.
"With a fair-minded Congress and by working with the caucus, we'll move even closer to passage of a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the expansion of hate crimes legislation to include sexual orientation and gender identity and support for the repeal of the military's discriminatory 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign.
None of that legislation made it through Congress this past year with control of both chambers firmly in the hands Democrats. Nor is there reason to be optimistic that passage will be accomplished this year.
