Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)
ABOUT THE LEGISLATION:
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is legislation proposed in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation OR gender identity by civilian, nonreligious employers with at least 15 employees.
ENDA has been introduced in every Congress since 1994 (except the 109th). Similar legislation has been introduced without passage since 1974. The bill gained its best chance at passing after the Democratic Party broke twelve years of Republican Congressional rule in the 2006 midterm elections. In 2007,gender identity protections were added to the legislation for the first time. Some sponsors believed that even with a Democratic majority, ENDA did not have enough votes to pass the House of Representatives with transgender inclusion and dropped it from the bill, which passed the House and then died in the Senate. Then President, George W. Bush, threatened to veto the measure. LGBTQA advocacy organizations and the LGBTQA community were divided over support of the modified bill.
In 2009, following Democratic gains in the 2008 elections and after the divisiveness of the 2007 debate, Rep. Barney Frank (D) of Massachusetts 4th Congressional District introduced a transgender-inclusive version of ENDA. He introduced it again in 2011, and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) of Oregon introduced it in the Senate. President Barack Obama supports the bill's passage.
ABOUT THE VIDEO CLIP:
The above video clip attempts to answer common questions and provides a discussion about the piece of legislation. The woman in the video is the first openly gay person to be elected to the United States Senate, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D) of Wisconsin.
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is legislation proposed in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation OR gender identity by civilian, nonreligious employers with at least 15 employees.
ENDA has been introduced in every Congress since 1994 (except the 109th). Similar legislation has been introduced without passage since 1974. The bill gained its best chance at passing after the Democratic Party broke twelve years of Republican Congressional rule in the 2006 midterm elections. In 2007,gender identity protections were added to the legislation for the first time. Some sponsors believed that even with a Democratic majority, ENDA did not have enough votes to pass the House of Representatives with transgender inclusion and dropped it from the bill, which passed the House and then died in the Senate. Then President, George W. Bush, threatened to veto the measure. LGBTQA advocacy organizations and the LGBTQA community were divided over support of the modified bill.
In 2009, following Democratic gains in the 2008 elections and after the divisiveness of the 2007 debate, Rep. Barney Frank (D) of Massachusetts 4th Congressional District introduced a transgender-inclusive version of ENDA. He introduced it again in 2011, and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) of Oregon introduced it in the Senate. President Barack Obama supports the bill's passage.
ABOUT THE VIDEO CLIP:
The above video clip attempts to answer common questions and provides a discussion about the piece of legislation. The woman in the video is the first openly gay person to be elected to the United States Senate, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D) of Wisconsin.