Rep. Polis Endorses Omnibus LGBT Rights Bill
Filed by: Dr. Jillian T. Weiss
April 1, 2011 4:00 PM
http://www.bilerico.com/2011/04/rep_polis_endorses_omnibus_lgbt_rights_bill.phpThere have been some calls recently to scrap piecemeal rights bills like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Some have called for adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the federal Civil Rights Act. Some have suggested a separate federal LGBT rights bill, but an omnibus bill that contains all of the bits and pieces of discrimination that we experience, such as discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, and the others areas now covered by civil rights law for race, national origin, sex and religion.
LGBT political and advocacy leaders have long ignored these calls on the grounds that such legislation could never pass because of political objections by large civil rights organizations who fear opening the Civil Rights Act to amendment by conservatives, and because of the pragmatic belief that incremental bills are more likely to pass.
