Emotional Testimonies Frame Hearing on Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)
Feature Story by Mariam Babayan - 9/14/2007
A September 5 Congressional hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 (ENDA), spotlighted personal stories of the debilitating effects of workplace discrimination on America's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities.
If passed, ENDA would extend federal employment discrimination protections to employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Currently, the protections cover race, religion, gender, national origin, age and disability.
Diverse panelists united in their endorsement of ENDA before the House Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee of the Education and Labor Committee. Congressional sponsors, members of the business and religious communities, as well as gay and lesbian victims of workplace discrimination echoed the sentiments of Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, who said "the time has come" for Congress to pass ENDA.
The American public agrees. According to a May 2007 Gallup poll 89 percent of respondents supported equal job opportunities for gays and lesbians,.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, who has been a Methodist minister for 30 years, spoke in favor of the legislation, arguing against those who oppose it on alleged religious grounds. "How can discrimination against hardworking, qualified people be pleasing God?" Cleaver said.
"All Americans deserve the right of equal protection under the law," Cleaver said, referencing the themes of the Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King Jr. "Now is the time to guarantee all Americans the God-given right to be."
Cleaver's acknowledgment of ENDA's significance as the next step in the continuation of a national legacy grounded in the protection of civil liberties was echoed by business entrepreneur Nancy Kramer. Kramer's two teenage daughters sat though the hearing because, as she testified, she hoped that they might witness the first steps to equal employment for the GLBT community.
The emotionally-charged hearing continued with a testimony from Brooke Waits, a native of Dallas, Texas. Tearfully, Waits recounted how she was fired from her position when her boss discovered a picture of a New Year's Eve kiss she shared with her girlfriend.
"In a single afternoon, I went from being a highly praised employee to out of a job," Waits stated.
Michael Carney, a gay police officer from Springfield, Illinois and victim of workplace discrimination, testified that "discrimination impacts the lives of everyone."
"It not only deprives people of livelihoods and safe working conditions, it also robs the public of vital services they would have otherwise received from talented and dedicated workers," Carney said.
ENDA enjoys broad support from the business community. Currently, nearly 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies have policies that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
"A diversity of opinions is vital for an innovative company," said Kelly Baker, vice-president of diversity at General Mills, in her testimony. "A culture of respect and inclusiveness is important for retaining top talent and recruiting new stars."
Opposition to ENDA was voiced most prominently by attorney Mark Fahleson of Remboldt Ludtke law firm in Lincoln, Nebraska, who expressed concern about how the legislation would place a "burden" on employers.
The full House Education and Labor Committee is scheduled to mark up the legislation in the next couple of weeks. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has pledged to bring the bill to the floor for a vote later this fall.
