Employment Non-Discrimination Act reintroduced in Congress
Monday, July 6, 2009
By: Derek Ford
New version includes protection of transgender workers
On June 24, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act was reintroduced in the House of Representatives. Long overdue, this legislation would establish federal protections against LGBT discrimination in the workplace by making it illegal to fire and refuse to hire or promote individuals based on sexuality or gender identification. A companion bill is expected to be introduced in the Senate soon.
|
Equal Rights Initiative contingent, Gay Pride Parade
San Francisco, June 28, 2009
Photo: Bill Hackwell
| Currently, in the majority of U.S. states it is perfectly legal to fire someone based solely on their sexual orientation or gender identification. This means that in times of capitalist crisis, LGBT workers are often the first to lose their jobs. They are forced to routinely deny and hide their sexuality or gender identification out of the need to secure a wage. Additionally, they have severely limited legal recourse over workplace harassment.
As the result of decades of LGBT struggle, there have been several attempts to pass varying forms of ENDA. In 2007, the house passed a version that omitted the protection of transgender people. The bill failed to become legislation after the Senate refused to take any action on it. The bill had included gender-identity protection until the House Democrats buckled under pressure from ultra-conservatives and quickly removed it.
This was another move that demonstrated the Democratic Party's policy of promising one thing and delivering another. In fact, the Obama administration garnered a great deal of support from the LGBT community in the 2008 election by pledging to advance civil rights, including a promise to repeal the military's bigoted "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
On June 30, a panel of New York National Guard officers recommended that First Lt. Dan Choi, an Iraq war veteran and National Guard member, be discharged for violating the policy. Over 250 service members have been discharged for violating the policy under the Obama administration. Obama defended this blatant betrayal of the LGBT community by stating that change has to be "administered in a practical [way]."
All bourgeois politicians are representatives of the capitalist class that benefits from such backward policies. They must maintain a balancing act between those they represent in word—the people—and those they represent in deed—the capitalists. The most that capitalism can offer LGBT people are reforms like ENDA, which seek to correct the symptoms of LGBT oppression but cannot, by definition, address the root causes of LGBT oppression. To that end, our struggle is indispensable.
All active news articles
Get Liberation newspaper
delivered at home!
 |
Recent Headlines
MORE HEADLINES |
Upcoming Events
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
