A vote for ENDA

On Nov. 7 the U.S. House of Representatives passed ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would amend existing workplace discrimination laws to include sexual orientation. Our vote followed an impassioned plea for support from my colleague and chairman, Congressman Barney Frank.

Since coming to Congress, I can’t remember being so personally moved by a member’s remarks on the House floor. And I was not alone. While Barney is renowned for his quick wit, humor and incisive intellectual arguments, he disarmed his opponents Nov. 7 with pure emotion.

Teary-eyed members, including myself, were touched not by Congressman Frank, Financial Services Committee chairman, but by Barney, their respected gay colleague, emotionally sharing how he has personally faced discrimination, and his passionate pleas to finally remove such workplace barriers from the lives of gay Americans.

Barney told us how he’s been fighting to pass this type of legislation for 35 years, and that he couldn’t help but “take personally” attempts to derail his efforts. He implored his colleagues to not send him back having failed gay Americans. For the first time since I’ve been on the House floor, you could hear a pin drop.

His emotional appeal influenced a number of members to change their positions, something that so rarely happens these days.

Walking off the floor that night, I was proud to be a member of Congress. All the way home, I reflected on how rarely we pass a historic, precedent-setting law that affects the basic rights of Americans.

Like many working parents, sometimes I wonder if the time away from my family is really worth it—particularly when time gets wasted on petty and/or partisan issues.

But that night, I was excited to tell my daughters about what Barney said on the floor and how Congress responded. He said: “Americans shouldn’t fear losing their jobs because someone might find out who they love.” We voted to make sure they won’t have to.

If Barney’s personal passion as well as the respect he has earned as one of our most gifted colleagues carries any weight, the Senate and president will follow the House and pass ENDA quickly. Let’s not wait another 35 years.

U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Schaumburg)
Washington, D.C.

On HRC

We respectfully disagree with the sharp rhetoric from some of our friends in the LGBT community being directed at the Human Rights Campaign in the wake of its support for the version of ENDA that recently was approved in the House. Like them, we wanted an ENDA bill that included protections for the T community, but unfortunately, given the realities of the current political environment, putting such a bill to a vote would not have led to any legislative achievement at this time. We believe that what needs to be heard now is not criticism of HRC, but rather plans to channel our allies’ energy into something positive. 

Rather than spending hours organizing a protest at an HRC event, a better use of time would be for the LGBT community to pull together and organize in-district lobbying appointments with their elected officials, create volunteer committee phone banks to call constituents within targeted districts, reach out to fair-minded religious leaders to speak about transgender issues and hold community meetings to educate gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight individuals about gender identity and expression. The hearts and minds of middle America need to be changed and this is not going to be accomplished by protesting HRC.

The Human Rights Campaign Chicago Steering Committee is eager to work with other community organizations to put together a collective transgender plan on lobbying, education and awareness. We hope many will take us up on our offer.

HRC Chicago Board

On gender-related violence

On Nov. 20 our community remembered those among us whose lives were lost because of the bigotry shown towards their expression of gender. Transgender Americans are routinely asked to employ a level of courage that few of us maintain. Where ignorance responds to that courage with a display of violence, our community must reward courage with a demonstration of commitment.

Violence towards transgender Americans can be dramatically reduced by affirming individual dignity through equal enforcement of employment and hate crime laws. If we are serious about reducing violence towards transgender Americans, then we must proactively work towards providing all of our community equal protection under the law. It is our actions, rather than words, which will demonstrate our tribute.

Stonewall Democrats take our own name from an historic catalyst, the Stonewall Inn riots, an event largely created under the leadership of transgender members of our community. Today, transgender Democrats continue to demonstrate their contribution to LGBT advancement within our organization as chapter presidents, board members and officers of individual state Democratic parties.

Whenever transgender citizens are told that their inclusion hinders the advancement of the LGBT movement, our own history is ignored and strategic lessons forgotten. As we remember the lives of those we have lost, we must work to secure equal protections for our entire movement. We owe a special duty towards those whose contributions have already led to legal protections for many in our community but not for themselves. If we are to reduce violence against transgender citizens, we must reduce attempts to marginalize transgender Americans within the law and, when necessary, within our own community.

Jon Hoadley
Executive Director
National Stonewall Democrats