
Homosexuality and bisexuality
Menu
Ending job discrimination for Americans
of all sexual orientations & gender identities

Sponsored link.
ENDA bills:Various federal Employment Non-Discrimination Acts (ENDAs) had been
proposed between the mid-1970's until 2009 to end discrimination against
employees on the basis of their sexual
orientation. The scope of the proposed bill in 2007 was temporarily expanded
to include gender identity. The 2009/2010 bill
and subsequent bills have included gender identity. ENDA is basically an extension of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which made discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion,
gender or national origin illegal in certain limited cases. Since 1964, other
laws have been passed to cover discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, age,
and disability. 1 If passed into law, ENDA would add additional, equal protections to all American workers, in two
additional ways:
 |
On the basis of their sexual orientation,
whether they are heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian, or gay.
|
 |
On the basis of their gender identity, whether
they be cis-gendered, transgender or transsexual.
|
The bill would not cover companies with fewer than 15 employees, religious
institutions, or the Armed Forces. Public support should make a Federal ENDA bill a shoo-in for Congress:
-
During 2011-APR, a poll by fielded the CAP poll of likely 2012 voters found:
- 73% of voters supported protecting the LGBT community from discrimination in the workplace.
- 83% of Democrats, 74% of Independents and even 66% of Republicans supported workplace nondiscrimination laws for LGBT people,
-
During 2013-SEP, Equality PA stated that:
- 80% of American adults including 70% of Republicans favor an end to workplace discrimination against LGBT people.
Even in the South, where support is weakest, a majority
of adults have in favor. Essentially all of the opposition to ENDA comes from:
- Fundamentalist and other evangelical Christians,
- Members of the conservative wings of other
religions, and
- Social conservatives.
As of 2009-NOV:
- 12 states had lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) -
inclusive nondiscrimination protection.
- These state laws covered almost 40 percent of Americans.
- More than 100 localities had similar bylaws in place.
- More than 150 companies on Fortune Magazines list of top 500 companies
had enacted nondiscrimination policies protecting LGBT workers.
-
However:
-
In 38 states, a worker could be fired on the basis of their gender
identity. 2
-
In 29 states, a worker could be fired on the basis of
their sexual orientation. 3
During the summer of 2011, the Center for American Progress (CAP) reported that about 90% of voters mistakenly believe that there is already a federal law protecting the LGBT community from discrimination in employment. 4 During 2013-SEP, Equality PA stated that:
-
In 33 states, a worker can still be fired on the basis of their gender
identity. 2
-
In 29 states, a worker can still be fired on the basis of
their sexual orientation. 3
During 2013-JUL, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions passed the ENDA bill by a vote of 15 to 7. Surprisingly, three Republicans on the committee actually voted in favor of the bill. 5 Yet, by mid 2013-SEP, the federal ENDA bill had still not passed Congress. 
Topics in this section:

Reference used:
-
"Civil Rights Act of 1964," Wikipedia, as modified on 2009-AUG-05, at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/
-
"Inclusive ENDA Introduced! Urge Your Senators to Support Crucial
Legislation," Transgender Legal Defense & Education fund, 2009-AUG, at:
http://www.transgenderlegal.org/
-
"ENDA is heating up - act now," Email, The Task Force Action Fund,
2009-NOV-03, at: http://groups.yahoo.com/
-
"Polling Shows Strong Support for ENDA," Freedom to Work, undated, at: http://www.freedomtowork.org/
-
Jennifer Bendery, "Employment Non-Discrimination Act Passes Senate Committee," Huffington Post, 2013-JUL-10, at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Site navigation:

Copyright © 1997 to 2013 by Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Hyperlinks last checked: 2000-MAY-12
Latest update: 2013-SEP-16
Author: B.A. Robinson

Sponsored link

|