On Monday, 61 Senators voted to defeat a Republican threat of filibuster to pass the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) - a measure that is long overdue. ENDA would enforce a federal ban on employers from firing, refusing to hire or discriminating workers or job applicants based on their sexual orientations or gender identities.
If the bill gets passed into law, it would support gay, lesbian and transgender people in the workplace, providing protection from discrimination. And if passed, the consequences for employers violating the law would be like any other case of employment discrimination - like race or gender.
As of now, only 21 states and the District of Columbia have laws that prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation; and only 17 states and the District of Columbia prohibit workplace discrimination based on gender identity, according to The Washington Post.
But now there is one thing standing in the way of ensuring fairness in the workplace: House Republicans.
Speaker John Boehner has refused to bring the bill up for a vote in the House. His office released a statement expressing concern that the law would "increase frivolous litigation and cost American jobs, especially small business jobs."
Most Republican lawmakers have echoed similar sentiments, stating the law would be redundant, as there are already federal statutes that outlaw workplace discrimination and many companies already disallow the practice.
They have also propagated the notion that ENDA would cause a greater legal risk to employers, as they could be more easily perceived as discriminating against sexual orientation or gender identity.
It is important to remember, however, that the same concern was voiced when racial nondiscrimination laws were proposed. And a recent report by the Government Accountability Office found that states with laws similar to ENDA did not have any increase in litigation.
With roughly 8.2 million homosexual employees nationwide, according to estimates by the Williams Institute of UCLA, not having a federal nondiscrimination law is unacceptable.
It is time that the federal government steps up and protects homosexual and transgender employees from discrimination.
In May, a poll conducted at the Pew Research Center found that 7 in 10 Americans believe that gays and lesbians face either "a lot" or "some discrimination" at work. Those numbers exceed the amount of people who sense discrimination against African Americans, Hispanics and women.
As increasing numbers of the American public have embraced accepting attitudes of homosexuals and support laws that ensure equal rights, it has been the Republican Party that has tried to block these efforts consistently and continues to do so today.
And this fight for equal rights is not new by any means. For years, members of Congress have been trying to pass a nondiscrimination bill in regard to sexual orientation. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. Gerry Studds (D-MA) first introduced legislation of this sort in 1994.
Supporters continued to try and push forward a bill and were stopped in the House and Senate committees in '95, '96, '97 and '99. It wasn't until 2001 that Kennedy was able to get the bill to the Senate floor, where it failed to pass.
The most recent version of ENDA made it through the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee this summer with bipartisan support. And this week, it passed the Senate - which was the first time that either house of Congress voted on a nondiscrimination bill that included transgender people.
The GOP-controlled House of Representatives, however, will not bring the bill up for consideration. With an overwhelming number of Americans supporting the measure, this is yet another example of House Republicans refusing to allow the democratic process to take place and let the people's House vote on a piece of legislation.
This is a bill that embraces the growing sense of tolerance and inclusion in America, and it really says something about the state of the Republican leadership when they are afraid to simply let it come to the floor.
email: editorial@ubspectrum.com
