ENDA Passes House; Does It Matter?
Thursday November 8, 2007
Background: Lesbian and Gay Workplace Discrimination
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) has passed the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday by a surprisingly slim 235-184 margin.
The majority of the bill's opponents argue that it would require socially conservative nonprofits to keep employees who come out as lesbian, gay, or bisexual--though religious nonprofits are exempted. But some of the bill's opponents are more concerned about the absence of language protecting transgender employees from discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
The bill will almost certainly pass the Senate--a 1996 version of the ENDA, proposed in a Republican-controlled Senate, failed by only one vote--but because the House did not approach the 280-vote margin needed to override a presidential veto, the fate of the bill rests in the hands of President Bush.
If Bush signs the bill, then it would probably be accurate to describe the ENDA as the most significant federal gay rights bill ever put into law. But if Bush vetoes the bill, then it will be remembered as a complete failure--a practical failure by virtue of not becoming law, and a symbolic failure for not prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
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The majority of the bill's opponents argue that it would require socially conservative nonprofits to keep employees who come out as lesbian, gay, or bisexual--though religious nonprofits are exempted. But some of the bill's opponents are more concerned about the absence of language protecting transgender employees from discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
The bill will almost certainly pass the Senate--a 1996 version of the ENDA, proposed in a Republican-controlled Senate, failed by only one vote--but because the House did not approach the 280-vote margin needed to override a presidential veto, the fate of the bill rests in the hands of President Bush.
If Bush signs the bill, then it would probably be accurate to describe the ENDA as the most significant federal gay rights bill ever put into law. But if Bush vetoes the bill, then it will be remembered as a complete failure--a practical failure by virtue of not becoming law, and a symbolic failure for not prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
Keep Reading:
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