There is still a chance to include gender identity in ENDA

I just recieved an email about the chance to still be able to get ENDA to include gender identity into the bill. Tammy Baldwin is planning on adding it if it makes it out ouf the House Education and Labor Committee.

Here is the email about it:

We must take advantage of this amazing opportunity to win civil rights for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. We need every person to take action. Your voice could be the one that makes the difference in getting a vote we need in Washington, D.C.

We are at a critical moment and are facing resistance from voices who simply fail to understand what is at stake. These voices of opposition are now being heard, loudly, on blogs and in the media. We need you to act now!

There are many things you can do to help in the next 24 hours:

Yesterday, Congressmember Tammy Baldwin announced that she will propose an amendment to H.R. 3685 (the watered down ENDA) to add gender identity to the bill IF it makes it out of the House Education and Labor Committee tomorrow. While a marked improvement compared to the currently language of 3685 (which currently only covers sexual orientation), the Baldwin Amendment would not address many of our concerns about religious exemptions in the bill.

Thus we have ONE MORE DAY to contact the Representatives on the House Education and Labor Committee and urge them to vote “no” on H.R. 3685 in committee tomorrow. We don’t want anything but a fully inclusive bill to come out of that committee. As of yesterday, there were as many as 6 Democrats ready to vote no – we need to grow that number, and hold the 6 who are standing for transgender inclusion. Committee members include:

George Miller, Chairman (CA-07)
Dale E. Kildee (MI-05)
Donald M. Payne (NJ-10)
Robert E. Andrews (NJ-01)
Robert C. Scott (VA-03)
Lynn C. Woolsey (CA-06)
Rubén Hinojosa (TX-15)
Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04)
John F. Tierney (MA-06)
Dennis J. Kucinich (OH-10)
David Wu (OR-01)
Rush D. Holt (NJ-12)
Susan A. Davis (CA-53)
Danny K. Davis (IL-07)
Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07)
Timothy H. Bishop (NY-01)
Linda T. Sánchez (CA-39)
John Sarbanes (MD-03)
Joe Sestak (PA-07)
Dave Loebsack (IA-02)
Mazie Hirono (HI-02)
Jason Altmire (PA-04)
John Yarmuth (KY-03)
Phil Hare (IL-17)
Yvette Clarke (NY-11)
Joe Courtney (CT-02)
Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01)

Please note: We want every other Representative to ONLY support a fully-inclusive ENDA on the floor. If we cannot stop H.R. 3685 from coming out of committee tomorrow as a sexual orientation-only bill — and we are faced with a vote on the floor of a sexual orientation-only bill — we will want Representatives to support the Baldwin amendment in an effort to repair the bill. More to come!

Send any responses that you receive from your Representative to ENDA@nctequality.org . We need to know what members of Congress are telling their constituents. This can make a huge difference in our conversations with Congressional leaders.

Spread the word!

Blog, write to the editor, or speak out about why this is important and what people can do about it. Important blogs to respond to include http://wockner.blogspot.com; http://www.americablog.com; http://www.planetout.com; http://www.baywindows.com; http://www.gay.com; and http://www.washblade.com.

Share the ENDA information with any churches or congregations you attend. A sample bulletin insert is attached!

Forward this email or emails from other organizations you are a part of to folks you know and let them know why you need their support right now.

Join United ENDA!

Ask organizations that you are a part of to join with us on United ENDA. They can sign the statement in support of a transgender inclusive ENDA by sending an email to Lisa Mottet of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force at lmottet@thetaskforce.org.

Thank your organizations, unions, and employers if they have already signed on to the project; let them know that their stance is appreciated and the right thing to do.

Support the Movement for Transgender Equality!

Help our organizations can continue this work! Click on the name of either organization to donate to the National Center for Transgender Equality or the Transgender Law Center.

The National Center for Transgender Equality is a national social justice organization devoted to ending discrimination and violence against transgender people through education and advocacy on national issues of importance to transgender people. The National Center for Transgender Equality is a 501(c)3 organization. For more information, please visit www.nctequality.org.

The Transgender Law Center (TLC) is a civil rights organization advocating for transgender communities. Every day we connect transgender people and their families to technically sound and culturally competent legal services, increase acceptance and enforcement of laws and policies that support California’s transgender communities, and work to change laws and systems that fail to incorporate the needs and experiences of transgender people. For more information, please visit www.transgenderlawcenter.org.

Barney Frank and the HRC need to be dropped.

Becky over at Becky’s Blog (http://beckygrrl.livejournal.com/) just wrote an excellent piece on Barney Frank and the HRC concerning the situation with wanting to pass legislation about not discriminating some people while excluding others.

And Barney Frank? To quote Walter Winchell, “A real friend is the one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.”

Although it’s hardly the rest of the world, just a possibility that not enough votes will be able to pass the act. And with this kind of rationale, since Bush is most likely going to veto it, why is Frank still supporting this version of the act?

That’s the hypocrisy of this issue. Lip service can only get you so far Frank and no one is buying it. Except for the HRC of course but what do you expect from such a faux-organization that has been fighting for the equality of the GLB_ community for so long?????

HRC, a watered down version of an actual GLBT rights organization.

How sad is it that every single glbt organization I have come across in the last few days is pushing for the new version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to include gender identity and expression, except for the supposedly largest glbt rights organization in the country, the Human Rights Campaign?

I think the HRC should take out the “T” in GLBT. 

The problem with the HRC is that they are too connected to the Democratic Party. One of the biggest problems I have with lobbying groups who are too much a supporter of a particular political party is that they don’t push for things that need to be pushed when they are a part of the club. The HRC has made some silly mistakes in the past because of their alliance with the Democratic Party and this is just another one.

Another problem connected to people and groups being too aligned with a party is how when something comes up that people are opposed to, they will criticize them for it but when it’s something happening in their party, they turn a blind eye to it. A good example of that would be the Iraq war, where people want to pretend that it’s only George Bush and the Republicans pushing for it and totally ignoring the Democrats who support it and gay marriage. People hate Bush and manyRepublicans because they are opposed to gay marriage yet these people support Democrats who are opposed to gay marriage. It’s even more absurd with how heated people are for supporting one and vehemently against the other.

The only good thing that comes from this shoddy way of thinking is that because a Republican is president and until recently, Congress was controlled by Republicans, you had so many people criticizing them for things such as again the Iraq war and opposition to gay marriage. If Democrats were in control of one or both of these, people would not be so critical which is the pathetic part. If a Democrat were president and started the Iraq war, you would have so many people not taking part in opposing it at all most likely. In a way it’s almost a good thing that Republicans have been in control because it has gotten so many people together to join in opposing them.

There is a reason the T in GLBT is at the end. At least it’s still in there though I suppose.

It didn’t take very long for the leading Democrats in Congress to throw out gender in the newly updated Employment Non-Discrimination Act. 

And it shows just how absurd this country is in passing legislation concerning non-discrimination.  

Here is a petition for people to sign if they would like to voice their concern in support of keeping gender in the act.

 http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/transgender_inclusive_ENDA/