Speaker of the
House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi issued a statement
Monday saying she would postpone advancing the latest
version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that
includes protections for gays and lesbians but
excludes transgender people. The bill was scheduled for
markup in committee on Tuesday, at which point it would have
been sent to the House floor for a vote.
"After
discussions with congressional leaders and organizations
supporting passage of ENDA, we have agreed to schedule
mark-up of the bill in the Committee on Education and
Labor later this month, followed by a vote in the full
House," Pelosi said in press release. "This
schedule will allow proponents of the legislation to
continue their discussions with Members in the
interest of passing the broadest possible
bill."
The move was a
nod to a critical mass of LGBT activists who came forward
to adamantly oppose passing a version of ENDA that lacks
transgender-inclusive language.
The ENDA bill
originally cosponsored by Rep. Barney Frank would have made
it illegal to discriminate in the workplace on the basis of
both sexual orientation and gender identity. That bill
was split in two last week when Democratic House
leadership feared it could not pass based on the
transgender-inclusive language.
More than 90
organizations signed on to a letter delivered to Speaker
Pelosi Monday morning that urged her to postpone action on
the substitute legislation.
"We ask
you to keep working with us on an Employment
Non-Discrimination Act that protects everyone in our
community, and to oppose any substitute legislation
that leaves some of us behind," read the letter,
which included signatories such as the National Center
for Transgender Equality, the National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force, and Lambda Legal.
The Human Rights
Campaign, which has spent the past two years lobbying
for a transgender-inclusive ENDA, did not sign on to the
letter and has not signaled how it will proceed with
the new legislation.
Matt Foreman,
executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force, sent out a statement of support for Pelosi's
postponement. "We appreciate that a decision
has been made to slow down this process," he
said, "and we look forward to working with Congress
over the upcoming weeks to educate them as to why this
substitute bill is seriously flawed, convince them to
abandon this strategy, and instead advance a fully
inclusive ENDA later this month." (The
Advocate)
UPDATE: The Human Rights Campaign board of
directors voted Monday night not to support the new
noninclusive version of the bill and to fully advocate
for an ENDA that protects people from discrimination
on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender
identity. HRC's statement can be read here.
