October 5, 2007
ENDA THE ROPE?
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Sklarz knows gender identity protection should be non-negotiable |
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 (ENDA) was postponed this week for a full vote in the House of Representatives—and that's a good thing. The original version of this year's Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. But last week, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), not counting enough votes to pass ENDA, ditched the idea of protecting discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
This politically expedient move would not only have excluded protections for transgender people, but also, according to Lambda Legal's analysis, hurts lesbians, gay men and bisexuals "who may not conform to their employer's idea of how a man or woman should look and act. This is a huge loophole through which employers sued for sexual orientation discrimination can claim that their conduct was actually based on gender expression, a type of discrimination that the new bill does not prohibit."
After pressure from LGBT groups, and the loss of support by Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Congress's only openly-lesbian Congressmember, House leadership announced they would delay ENDA's mark-up until the end of this month. A release by Pelosi, Miller, Frank and Baldwin stated, "This schedule will allow proponents of the legislation to continue their discussions with Members in the interest of passing the broadest possible bill." On September 27, Frank, the only openly gay man in Congress, issued a statement arguing that a transgender-inclusive bill up for a vote now would be voted down, and "if you always insist on doing all the difficult things in one bite, you will probably never be successful. Dismantling the opposition piecemeal has always worked better."
LGBT advocates who voiced their opposition to the non-trans inclusive ENDA, don't buy Frank's logic. An October 1 letter signed by more than 90 groups representing various LGBT and community-based organizations including National Transgender Advocacy Coalition, Equality South Dakota and the Straight Spouse Network stated, "We oppose legislation that leaves part of our community without protections and basic security that the rest of us are provided."
"When you get down to it, Barney Frank's is not a gay man, he's a Democrat," Melissa Sklarz, a transgender member of the National Stonewall Democrats and director of New York Trans Rights Organization told the Update. "I'm thrilled they decided to postpone the vote, and think it's shockingly cynical to make two bills."
HIV/AIDS advocates support the trans-inclusive ENDA, not just as allies, but as a prevention method. "Economic marginalization of trans-people can be a key reason they're more vulnerable to become HIV-positive," said Julie Davids.
States' progress mixed
At the state level, it's not uncommon for gender identity to get sacrificed in order to pass legislation that protects employment on the basis of sexual orientation. "When it comes down to it, the trannies get sold out," said Charles Long, Housing Works' state issues organizer.
In New York, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) has been stalled for years, even though the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA) passed in 2002. The State Democratic party just approved a resolution supporting GENDA, but gay marriage is still the LGBT issue on everyone's tongues. Advocates hope that GENDA will pass when the State Legislature is back in session, and this long battle will finally end. "We're the poster-child for how bad things happen when gays and trannies split," Sklarz said.
As this map shows, 30 states still don't have laws protecting for sexual orientation or gender identity, 13 states have employment laws protecting both sexual orientation and gender identity, and seven states' laws only protect sexual orientation.
To make a difference contact your Congressional representative and tell them you want a trans-inclusive ENDA! And if you live in New York, contact your legislative representatives, and tell them to get moving on GENDA!