ENDA: 5 Lessons in How The Movement Works
Passage in the Senate was unprecedented, and it signaled much about what still matters in our politics.
BY Kerry Eleveld
January 06 2014 4:00 AM ET

http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2014/01/06/enda-5-lessons-how-movement-works

The Senate's recent 64–32 passage of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act was far and away the smoothest LGBT legislative effort in recent memory. Though its prospects remain uncertain in the GOP-controlled House, it's worth reflecting on what's changed, other than the times. Why did this campaign vary so drastically from the 2009–2010 effort, when the legislation withered on the vine in both Democratic chambers?

Here are my five biggest takeaways from the movement's legislative victory:

1. Donors do matter. In January of 2013, Paul Yandura, the political adviser to mega-donor Jonathan Lewis, started researching ENDA's prospects. Everyone he consulted said the Senate had at least 56 "yeas," maybe more, in the offing. The problem was that the bill would need more Republican votes — about which Yandura admittedly knew nothing.

"You could give me $500 million and I don't think I could move one single Republican," he joked.

2. Coalitions can matter. Coalition building is often higher on symbolism than actual returns. But the bipartisan ENDA coalition made up of about a dozen organizations, including the American Unity Fund, HRC, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, worked in this case....

4. Republicans matter more than ever. In the most critical ENDA vote — the procedural vote that required 60 votes to end debate — the Dems only accounted for 54 votes. Six Republicans were needed (we got seven, for a total of 61). But convincing Republicans to move on LGBT legislation is an entirely different proposition from convincing Democrats, which is where the movement's effort has been for a decade.

These two points are intertwined.