Posts Tagged “ENDA”
Could the Supreme Court’s ruling in the now-infamous Hobby Lobby case lead to companies using religion as a way to deny benefits to LGBT people?
In case you missed it the first time, Philadelphia’s CNN affiliate is re-airing the segment we did on LGBT Rights in the Workplace TONIGHT, Monday Nov. 3 at 7PM on WFMZ-TV. It was a remarkable show to be a part of as Dan Miller, someone who was fired for being gay, myself and Anthony Haller […]
Angela Giampolo on Philadelphia CNN affiliate TONIGHT! Tune in or set your DVR’s to 7pm TONIGHT to Comcast Channel 792, Verizon Channel 15, and 69 on a regular digital tuner TONIGHT!
29 states have no laws prohibiting workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and 34 have no laws based on gender identity. This is absolutely unacceptable!
The legal landscape for LGBT people today is quickly changing and hard to predict, but the trend over the last few years has been overwhelmingly positive—from the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8 being ruled unconstitutional, to the growing legion of states that have come to recognize same-sex marriage either by legislation or litigation. However, the work is far from done and marriage equality is only one front of the war—and potentially not even the most important.
What is truly at the center of the LGBT human-rights movement is the effort to advance state and federal legislation protecting people from workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The effort has crystallized around the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which has been introduced in every session of Congress since 1994 except one. If, after 20 years of congressional limbo, it’s signed into law, ENDA would bar employers from firing or not hiring someone because of their “actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Will 2014 be the year when opponents of progress will finally stand alone on the wrong side of history? The forecast looks cloudy, at best. But as I look back at 2013—the battles we’ve won and the battles we’ve lost—I see tremendous potential for advances in LGBT equality in the New Year.
It is always difficult to quantify progress in struggles for increased basic human rights. Looking at 2013 cumulatively, though, there is no doubt that the United States is picking up momentum and moving toward LGBT equality faster than ever.
By Angela D. Giampolo Original Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/blog/guest-comment/2013/11/employment-non-discrimination-act-is.html On Nov. 7, more than 60 Senators — the number required to avoid filibuster — voted to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), breathing life into a bill that has equality advocates ecstatic about what positive implications it will have for the LGBT community. The bill’s final Senate vote […]