Urge the Senate to Pass a Trans-Inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act

categories: Employment NonDiscrimination Act, Hate Crimes, LGBT Legislation, LGBT Rights and Politics, Transgender Issues

Published August 06, 2009 @ 12:09PM PT

Rainbow Flag In 29 states, it's legal for someone to be fired because they are gay, lesbian or bisexual. In a whopping 38 states, it's legal to fire someone because they are transgender.

Think those statistics are repulsive? Well, now's the time to tell the U.S. Senate. Earlier this week, Senators Jeff Merkley, Ted Kennedy, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe introduced a bipartisan "Employment Non-Discrimination Act" in the U.S. Senate. The bill, known as S. 1584, would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Here at change.org, we've got a petition where you can send a message to your Senators letting them know that hardworking LGBT people don't deserve to be fired, and consequently lose their livelihoods, simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The fact that it's 2009, and more than two dozen states allow workers to be discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, is a pretty sad sentiment.

Now is the time to change that. Please consider signing this petition, and urging the U.S. Senate to support the first-ever trans-inclusive "Employment Non-Discrimination Act" introduced in the Senate. President Barack Obama has pledged to sign it if Congress gives its approval. Wouldn't it be great to see this become law?

For more information on this bill, also check out change.org member Dave Hershey's spreadsheet on Senators who have co-sponsored the Act. Dave also gives a little comparison between those who have signed on to support this bill, and those who support expanding hate crimes legislation to include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. Excellent political science at play here.

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Comments (3)

HRC sent me a text alert about this issue this morning and I knew about this kind of discrimination, but I just couldn't believe that there were so many states involved in it.

Posted by Sarah McConnaughey on 08/06/2009 @ 12:47PM PT
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Thanks Mike for linking to the spreadsheet. I've been working on making calls this morning and early afternoon. Hopefully it is making a difference. :)

Posted by Dave Hershey on 08/06/2009 @ 01:39PM PT
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The bill which would make it illegal to fire employees based on their sexual orientation and gender identity must become law. It's good that President Obama supports the bill and with bipartisan support from the members of Congress who introduced the bill, President Obama will surely sign the bill. It's unfortunate that in many states, it's legal to fire LGBT employees, but with the bill's passage, the greatness of LGBT equality will be in every workplace.

Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 08/06/2009 @ 06:08PM PT
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Author

Michael is the Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, and previously was Communications Director for Pax Christi USA, a progressive Catholic human rights organization.