The Fight Over ENDA

Commenters at three major blogs, Pam's House Blend, AmericaBlog and The Bilerico Project are "Ground Zero" for a community dialogue on whether U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA)'s decision to separate the "gender identity" provisions from "sexual orientation" in the version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 2015) to be considered by Congress next week. It should be noted that 2007 was the first year that a trans-inclusive version of ENDA was introduced, and that prior to this year ENDA has been introduced in every session of Congress since 1974.

Mad Professah agrees with the nine National LGBT organizations (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Stonewall Democrats, National Coalition for LGBT Health, Pride At Work (AFL-CIO), National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects, Mautner Project and National Center for Transgender Equality) that issued a statement on Thursday opposing a trans-free ENDA.

However, as I commented on Pam's House Blend I believe that a compromise position would be to have an "Upperdown vote" on the original trans-inclusive version of ENDA and if that failed, then you could bring up a version of the bill without the "gender identity" provision. At least my way would innoculate the sponsors of ENDA from charges of "throwing transgenders under the bus" if a vote on a bill in which both issues were linked was able to occur. However, legislatively, it might be impossible to have two bills heading for the House floor nearly simultaneously.

Also, I do feel like after so many decades of public service to the LGBT community Barney Frank has earned the benefit of the doubt and should not be subjected to invective on this strategic legislative decision he has made to attempt to engineer the passage of the first federal non-discrimination bill inclusive of sexual orientation in U.S. history.