The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Civil Rights Monitor
Winter 2007

• Introduction

On the Hill

• The Year in Judicial and Executive Nominations
• D.C. Voting Rights: Closer than Ever
• Hate Crimes Bill Moves through Congress
• Fighting to Preserve and Restore Workers' Rights
• The Immigration Reform Debate Continues
• Congress Begins Addressing Subprime Mortgage Fallout
• Successes and Setbacks on ENDA
• Backlash against the REAL ID Act Grows

Executive Branch

• Deja Vu at the FCC?

In the Courts

• Supreme Court Hands Down Major Decision on School Integration

In the States

• New Threats to Affirmative Action

LCCREF Activities

• Civil Rights Enforcement Takes Center Stage
• Leadership Conference Steps Up Anti-Poverty Efforts
• New Civil Rights Partnership Calls Attention to Nation's High School Crisis
• Why Americans Should Care about the Great Switch to DTV
• President Clinton, John Hope Franklin, and Tammy Duckworth Are 2007 Hubert H. Humphrey Honorees

Successes and Setbacks on ENDA

In a historic vote held against a backdrop of controversy, bipartisan legislation that would extend employment protections to gay, lesbian, and bisexual employees passed the House of Representatives on November 8, 2007.

The House passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) by a vote of 235-184. It had been 11 years since the bill's last vote.

Currently, an American employee can be fired legally in 31 states based on sexual orientation. ENDA would extend the same employment discrimination protections currently accorded to race, religion, gender, national origin, age, and disability, and make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

Civil rights groups applauded the historic vote, but called it incomplete because the bill does not extend protections to the transgender community.

"This is not a perfect bill because it does not cover transgender Americans who are among the most victimized by workplace discrimination. However, we do see it for what it is -- an important first step," said Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR).

ENDA included language addressing the transgender community when introduced in the House on April 24 by chief sponsor Rep. Barney Frank, D. Mass., and Reps. Deborah Pryce, R. Ohio, Tammy Baldwin, D. Wis., and Christopher Shays, R. Conn.

However, after the bill stalled, Rep. Frank removed the language protecting transgender workers. The House leadership argued that the strategy was the only way to pass any bill in the narrowly divided chamber.

This strategy angered civil rights groups and gay rights activists. The National Center for Transgender Equality said the original bill was "prematurely abandoned and should still be called to a vote."

Ultimately, many civil rights groups, though disappointed with the final House bill, felt that the House passage of ENDA would provide momentum on an issue that had been dormant for over a decade.

"While we celebrate this victory, we do not intend to let another 10 years pass before we protect the entire community," said Nancy Zirkin, LCCR vice president and director of policy.

In a November 6 letter to the House, LCCR called the civil rights community's decision to support the final House bill "extraordinarily difficult."

The letter described what was at stake, stating: "As civil rights organizations, however, we are no strangers to painful compromise in the quest for equal protection of the law for all Americans. From the Civil Rights Act of 1957 through the almost-passed District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007, legislative progress in the area of civil and human rights has almost always been incremental in nature. With each significant step toward progress, the civil rights community has also faced difficult and sometimes even agonizing tradeoffs. We have always recognized, however, that each legislative breakthrough has paved the way for additional progress in the future. With respect to ENDA, we take the same view."

ENDA enjoys broad public support. According to a May 2007 Gallup poll, 89 percent of respondents supported equal job opportunities for gays and lesbians. A 2004 Hart Research poll found that 65 percent of respondents believe it should be illegal to fire someone because he or she is transgender. In addition, much of corporate America has already embraced equal protection for the GLBT community. Nearly 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies have policies that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.