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The New York Times
Gay Rights Group
Supports Job Bias Ban
By AP from
nytimes.com on the Web, November 7, 2007
WASHINGTON, Nov.6 -- A leading
gay rights group changed course Tuesday to support a job discrimination bill
even though it does not include transgender workers.
The Human Rights Campaign's decision to back the measure to prohibit workplace
bias against gays, lesbians and bisexuals provides a boost to bill supporters as
a House vote nears. The group had been pushing for transgender worker
protections.
The organization's president, Joe Solmonese, said passage of the bill -- the
first federal workplace protection for gays, lesbians and bisexuals -- could
help pave the way for legislation that covers transgender workers.
''Sometimes with these sorts of complex and weighty legislative fights, the best
way to move towards the ultimate piece of legislation you are looking for is to
do it by degree,'' Solmonese said.
The exclusion of gender identity in the bill has created divisions within the
Democratic Party and among gay rights activists. Some say they should take
advantage of the Democrats' numerical superiority in the House while others
argue that the legislation should include the transgender community.
''It is very unfortunate that the House leadership is moving the first-ever gay
civil rights bill to the floor and the vast majority of gay rights group oppose
it,'' said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force.
Rep. Barney Frank, a leading gay rights champion in Congress, urged fellow gay
rights advocates not to let their dispute doom the bill.
''The notion that you would kill a bill that would be an enormous advance
because it wasn't perfect doesn't make political sense,'' said Frank, D-Mass.,
who has pledged to pursue additional legislation for transgender workers.
Transgender is an umbrella term that covers transsexuals, cross-dressers and
others whose outward appearance doesn't match their gender at birth.
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act would make it illegal for employers to
make decisions about hiring, firing, promoting or paying an employee based on
sexual orientation. Churches and the military would be exempt.
The bill's original version included protections for transgender workers.
But Democratic leaders settled on a stripped-down version after finding that
including transgender workers in the bill would cause it to fail in the full
House.
That move sparked a backlash among many gay rights activists and forced
Democratic leaders to delay a vote on the bill.
The Human Rights Campaign had steered a middle course, saying while it opposed
the stripped-down bill, it would not actively oppose the measure. But the
group changed its mind this week once it became clear the measure providing
protections based on sexual orientation was headed for a House vote, Solmonese
said.
''This is not only a step in the right direction,'' he said. ''It's also
historic civil rights legislation to protect gay and lesbian people.''
Federal law bans job discrimination based on factors such as race, gender and
religion.
Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have laws against
sexual-orientation discrimination. However, only nine states specifically
protect transgender people from discrimination: New Jersey, Minnesota,
Rhode Island, New Mexico, California, Illinois, Maine, Hawaii, Washington. The
District of Columbia also has a similar law.
By January, laws also will be in effect in Iowa, Vermont, Colorado and Oregon.
On the Net:
The bill number is H.R. 3685.
For bill text:
http://thomas.loc.gov
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