US Senate Passes ENDA!!!

Hey!!! It’s the Spencer Hamilton Blog and you are in for a treat!!!

I am excited that ENDA has passed the Senate 64-32. I guess the Democrats have grown a pair and said that this is the time to do the work and give the House Republicans a chance to redeem themselves by passing it—I remember the VAWA fight and it was a LONG LONG time that it was waiting before it was passed. Same with immigration reform but of course we have to push the Republicans on that as well as Democrats to continue making noise on the bill

 

ENDA has been long debated and of course the religious right has been spreading nothing but lies about the bill saying that somehow you will have to hire John and call him Jane and what kind of example will that set for kids, they use graphics like this to bred a fear in people that somehow it will be a special right that will be forced on them if they can’t fire gay people just because they’re gay. It has become a gleeful thing when gay and lesbian bisexual and transgender people lose their jobs, lives or something else because of their “ungodly lifestyle” No one does evil so cheerfully as they do when it’s from religious conviction.

So, the rocky road to ENDA is similar to the SONDA of 2002, for many years it has stalled. According to Wikipedia:

ENDA has been introduced in every Congress since 1994 except the 109th. Similar legislation has been introduced without passage since 1974.^[1] The bill gained its best chance at passing after the Democratic Party broke twelve years of Republican Congressional rule in the 2006 midterm elections. In 2007, gender identity protections were added to the legislation for the first time. Some sponsors believed that even with a Democratic majority, ENDA did not have enough votes to pass the House of Representatives with transgender inclusion and dropped it from the bill, which passed the House and then died in the Senate. President George W. Bush threatened to veto the measure. LGBT advocacy organizations and the LGBT community were divided over support of the modified bill.

In 2009, following Democratic gains in the 2008 elections, and after the divisiveness of the 2007 debate, Rep. Barney Frank introduced a transgender-inclusive version of ENDA. He introduced it again in 2011, and Sen. Jeff Merkley introduced it in the Senate. President Barack Obama supports the bill's passage

So this is a bit of history on the bill. San Antonio is a municipality that has recently passed LGBT inclusive nondiscrimination law and thankfully a repeal effort failed to gain traction

I’ve been hearing a lot about the law from many people both for and against, mostly for. I am of the firm belief that an employee should be judged on their character, and aptitude for the job they are hired to perform. They shouldn’t be hired because they are the boss’s  son’s friend or know them and one shouldn’t be penalized because they aren’t a friend of the boss. This is about worker protections and not fearing losing your job in the event that you put up a picture of you, the hubby/wife or kids. As we all know, not one person has been fired for being straight. IF there is a case, please let me know. I highly doubt that

 

So, a lot of conservatives like Traditional Values Coalition, Catholic Church, FOX “News” and other such groups have been pushing arguments like it promotes cross-dressing or you’ll have to accept transgender identity as a valid identity if people pass ENDA and other worker protections. This doesn’t do any of that of course, it just says that it can’t be a basis by which to discriminate against workers. ENDA won’t force religious people to hire those they otherwise wouldn’t and does nothing to force that. States’ rights advocates say that it would overrule what policies the states have in regard to worker protections, this would not do any of that. The same kinds of people think that AL has a right to ban marriage between gay and lesbian people and NY DOESN’T have the right to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. In many states there are no worker protections for LGBT people and there’s nothing to overrule. Then there is a claim that I find completely laughable: The fact that it was RUSHED THROUGH or will be.

This bill has been introduced since 1994 except for one Congress and they’re going to tell us that somehow this bill is being rushed? Nearly 20 years debate is enough. Then we get to the real thing: That ENDA threatens the foundation of marriage, children and will mandate sharing bathrooms with both genders. I just want to point out that in many states, even with unisex bathrooms, I doubt that we have had ANY transgender person who was actually living as transgender assault anyone in the bathrooms. This is a non-issue, a distraction, a diversion, an artful dodge to say: They give me the heeby geebies and I’ll say I’m protecting children and marriage, NORMAL people… Also, anyone ever watch Ally McBeal? I don’t remember them having ANY problems in the show. I’m sure they’d feel awkward at first, but after getting over that there’d be no real issue there

 

No special protections are given, it only reaches parity with rights that the Constitution says we have

 

Let’s also state that most people surveyed support ENDA, I would like to see it actually upheld at the polls, while I understand that we shouldn’t vote on peoples’ civil rights the polls that matter the most are the places they vote. Anyone can say they support something to a person on the phone so they don’t sound like a homo and trans hater, but when a vote takes place, we know the real terrain—or in a Legislature like what happened in 2009 when NY voted for marriage the first time

So, in this rundown on ENDA I am glad to hear some movement. Being able to push past the cloture vote is great, and now it goes to the House, where Boehner says that he opposes it because it kills jobs. Of course, the only job they’ve created is this guy’s job! So, call your local Representative, email them. I guess I can call Chris Collins and tell him how much of a jerk he is for killing a similar bill when it was passed by the Erie County Legislature some years ago. Also, I believe that a push will be in place before the new Legislature convenes and we have a GOP majority.

 

Thanks for letting me talk to you!

Until Next Time