Will These Lawmakers Support a Trans-Inclusive ENDA?

[skin]

Sunnivie Brydum and Michelle Garcia, The Advocate
July 15, 2014

Last week, led by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, seven major national LGBT organizations announced that they were withdrawing support for ENDA over the bill's religious exemptions, which they now see as too broad in light of the precedent set by the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling.

But several prominent LGBT advocacy organizations — including the Human Rights Campaign, National Center for Transgender Equality, and Freedom to Work — are standing by the embattled legislation, arguing that even an imperfect bill would be better than the dearth of federal protections currently offered to LGBT workers. Despite the fact that most Americans believe it's already illegal to fire someone because they are LGBT, in reality, gay, lesbian, and bisexual employees can be fired on the basis of their sexual orientation in 29 states, while transgender employees can be fired, not promoted, or not hired because of their gender identity in 31 states.

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Recognizing that Michigan lawmakers will already have ENDA on their minds — and hopefully on their visitation schedules — Freedom to Work's latest group of targets for potential new cosponsors focuses heavily on lawmakers from the Great Lakes State. Below meet the lawmakers who also happen to be chairs of a range of prominent committees, where ENDA could particularly be of importance.

More: http://www.advocate.com/enda/2014/07/15/will-these-lawmakers-support-trans-inclusive-enda

[tgchar21]

This is also why I'd support a compromise that would not require companies' health insurance to cover transition costs (a tangible reason for cisfolk to object), but to ban discrimination in terms of hiring/firing/pay/promotions/bathrooms/etc. (If it were me I'd do away with employer-based health insurance altogether rendering that issue moot, but that's for another time.)

[awilliams1701]

I think it should be illegal for an employer to impose their religious beliefs on their employees. If this was the case the hobby lobby thing would have gone in favor of all contraceptives and not the "approved" ones.