Still at the ENDA the Line

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), albeit without protections for Transgendered employees.

Although we are deeply disappointed that the approved version of the bill does not include our Transgendered sisters and brothers, we recognize that yesterday's vote was historic.

For more than 20 years, advocates for workplace protections for LGBTQ people have been working tirelessly for this legislation. We often wondered whether we would live to see the day that a majority in either House of Congress would vote to support our right NOT to get fired simply for loving someone.

As the song says, The Times, They Are A-Changing... yet, lest we forget, we are just one-third of the way to the finish line.

Keep in mind that the Senate has yet to vote on ENDA because we are still waiting for Senator Ted Kennedy to introduced it!

And even if the Senate does pass an ENDA bill while Bush is still in office, he has promised a veto.

Still, with all of the hurdles that remain, we feel it is important to recognize this moment as a reflection of how far we've come and how much further we must travel before we become full and complete American Citizens.

Please take a moment to watch this short clip of Representative Barney Frank's emotional plea for his colleagues to vote in favor of ENDA:





We hope you will call Barney Frank and thank him for NOT abandoning the LGBT Community -- even though he has many of the legal rights and protection that remain unavailable to the rest of us.

Representative Frank can be reached at (202) 225-5931 or emailed via a web form on his website.