To Find Out More

1.Human Rights Campaign

The Human Rights Campaign is an excellent site to visit to find out what is currently occurring with ENDA legislatively. If you’re looking for current information not only on ENDA but on proposed legislation that is similar to ENDA throughout the states. For example, on March 11 of this year, the site published a post entitled: “Inclusive Non-Discrimination Bill Introduced in West Virginia Senate.” This post, while not about ENDA specifically, gives information about a bill that had been proposed in West Virginia that would prohibit discrimination against LGBT people in housing and employment. There are also areas that involve a legislative timeline as well as stories of the discrimination people have faced because an act such as ENDA has not been implemented. If you want to help end this discrimination, there is a link on the site to “tell Congress to pass ENDA.”

2. Equality on Trial

Equality on Trial’s ENDA portion of its site contains in-depth posts on current happenings concerning LGBT discrimination and inequality in the political realm. The site does not limit its information to just the ENDA act or the United States. For example, the subject of a recent post concerned the New Zealand parliament’s passage of a marriage equality bill. Of course domestic news of discrimination and inequality play a large role as seen by posts such as “lesbian couple wins discrimination lawsuit in Hawaii” and “Delaware’s marriage equality bill gets first committee hearing today.” At the bottom of the Equality on Trial’s main ENDA page, there are also links to other organizations that reference this topic as well.

3.CivilRights.Org

CivilRights.org contain a section on ENDA that gives a lot of background, specific facts about the issues surrounding ENDA, and the specifics of the ENDA act itself. There is an ENDA Fact Sheet, Successes and setbacks of ENDA, ENDA talking points, and other informative pages on the site itself. The site also links to other topical sites for visitors to explore when trying to learn more about ENDA. This site is very focused on ENDA specifically, as opposed to the other issues that are affecting LGBT individuals. On the sidebar, there is a “take action” tab that links to a page about specific ways that you can take action to promote the passing of ENDA. Specific instances are listed along with links to write letters and otherwise inform individuals such as senators and congressman that he or she should support ENDA.

The Traditional Values Coalition’s Argument

The Traditional Values Coalition made some radical claims about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). They base their arguments on the religious aspect of tradition but the claims they make are not very well supported and are flawed. It almost seems like the definition of the act itself is not being understood because of all the claims made against it.

They claim that this act will “[grant] special protection for perverted acts such as incest, pedophilia, and cross-dressing”. This argument is flawed because this act focuses on preventing discrimination based on sexual identity and sexual orientation and saying it grants protection for illegal acts such as incest and pedophilia is neither here nor there. These acts are illegal and endanger the well-being of people while sexual orientation harms no one. Their claim is outrageous because they make a correlation out of the blue between sexual orientation and incest and pedophilia. They provide no evidence that supports their correlation.

They also claim that “this fight is not about job discrimination; it’s about forcing Christians and Americans to affirm transgender sexual conduct and other perverted lifestyles”. This claim also has flawed logic. ENDA is not forcing anything on anyone; all it is doing is protecting people from being discriminated against based on their sexual orientation. It is in no way forcing any kind of lifestyle on anyone. They also cannot claim that this act is not about job discrimination. This act wants to protect people from being fired/not hired because of their sexual orientation. It does not force or advertise people to be a certain way. And the fact that their claim calls certain lifestyles perverted weaken their credibility. Even if you don’t agree with something and you’re arguing against it, it doesn’t mean you can’t approach it from a respectful point of view. Insulting a group of people doesn’t make your argument any stronger, it does the contrary.

Moreover, they claim that ENDA is “the LGBT lobby’s sinister plan to silence people of faith”. First off, ENDA has nothing to do with people’s faith. It deals with equal opportunity and acceptance towards people of all sexual orientations. If people want to keep whatever faith they have, this act will do absolutely nothing to interfere with it. People can choice what they want to believe in, so why should people be discriminated based on their identity. Also, this act will not silence anyone; it actually promotes free speech because with this act people won’t be afraid of openly being any sexual orientation without being afraid to say anything that might suggest a certain sexual orientation which can potentially fire them.

All in all, they don’t provide any evidence for correlations made, stray away from the definition of the act, are disrespectful in their language and do not provide sufficient explanations to their allegations making their argument flawed.

Science Supports ENDA and You Should Too!

Let’s look at this issue through a scientific lens. Is there any evidence that shows being gay can adversely affect someone’s performance in the work place? The American Psychological Association did the research by asking the following questions: “Are lesbians and gay men psychologically abnormal, which would justify work place discrimination? and Does being gay or lesbian affect a person’s work?” Through psychological testing, they found that the heterosexual and homosexual group both had normal scores and showed to have the same level of psychological health. In another study, they found that homosexuality only affects the workplace when other people openly discriminate against gay co-workers. Being gay also affects work performance when they are anxious about getting discriminated against for their sexual orientation, something that would be, in part, eliminated by ENDA.

The findings from the American Psychological Association’s study show that being gay does not affect a person’s ability to perform their job admirably. Employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, therefore, cannot be justified and is completely unfair. A person’s ability to keep or receive a job should be based on skill, professionalism in the workplace, and job performance. None of these factors are related to the sexual orientation of the worker, so it should not be a factor in whether or not they can retain a job.

American Psychological Association

 

Crushing Dreams and Breaking Banks

Everyone should have the right to not be afraid of being fired due to their personal lives, sexual orientation or sexual identity. It should be a fundamental right of all citizens.

Job discrimination is a bigger issue than what meets the eye. People are experiencing discrimination and harassment and can be fired for their sexual orientation and only a few states provide laws against this.

It is almost unbelievable how many states do not have laws protecting citizens from job discrimination due to sexual orientation. According to The New Civil Rights Movement, in 38 states today you can potentially be fired for gender identity including being transgender. Only 12 states including Washington, D.C outlaw employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. On top of that, 29 states can fire employees for being gay, lesbian or bisexual.

Here is a story about Michael from Massachusetts. Michael’s childhood dream was to become a police officer. His dream came true when right after college he entered the police force. At his graduation party, Michael was directed a gay joke and quickly learned that he had to keep his sexual orientation a secret. He went through years of living a double life and risking everything in the process. Michael started drinking and fell into a depression. He then left the police force. Later, he came out and reapplied to be a police officer as an openly gay man. He reapplied with four other fellow former officers but only he was denied reinstatement. Fortunately for Michael, Massachusetts had a law that protected him and after a two-and-a-half-year investigation he got to get his job back.

Harassment is also a big issue that will be dealt with if ENDA is passed. According to the Center of American Progress, studies have shown that “anywhere from 15 percent to 43 percent of gay people have experienced some form of discrimination and harassment at the workplace” and “a staggering 90 percent of transgender workers report some form of harassment or mistreatment on the job”.

On top of all of this, not only can you get fired and are not legally protected from that, this job discrimination affects people’s incomes and has economic consequences. According to the Williams Institute, job discrimination affects income levels for gay men. It has been found that gay men earn 10% to 32% less than “similarly qualified” heterosexual men. They also point out that transgender people experience high rates of unemployment and low earnings. According to the Center for American Progress, “transgender individuals are twice as likely to be unemployed and are four times as likely to live in poverty”.

Overall, discrimination affects peoples live in a very negative way; it doesn’t protect their rights and is harmful emotionally and economically. Whether someone is qualified for a job should not be based on sexual orientation. Job discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation goes against Americans value system of quality and justice for all. Everyone should have the same protection under the law. Equal rights are not something that should go underestimated in all states.

The Effect on Religious Organizations

The Family Research Council (FRC), a vocal opponent of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), sent out a mailing that asked recipients to sign a petition that opposes the passing of ENDA. The FRC’s letter informs recipients that ENDA: “would give special rights to men and women who engage in homosexual behavior. It will force Christian schools and colleges, Christian-owned businesses, day care centers, and other organizations to employ people who make their sexual behavior an issue as they parade their proclivities in the workplace.” The author of the mailing concludes by strongly urging supporters to sign the petition against ENDA based on the following reasons: So that Christians will not be fired for their faith, to keep Christian schools and businesses from being forced to employ homosexual teachers and cross-dressers, and that Christians will not be fired for “anti-gay harassment simply because he kept a Bible on his desk.”

The problem with the FRC’s stated reasoning is that ENDA would not actually produce those results. ENDA includes a special exemption for religious organizations which would protect against the FRC’s prominent complaints about ENDA. The bill itself has the following provision: “This Act shall not apply to a corporation, association, educational institution, or society that is exempt from the religious discrimination provisions of title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964.” Therefore, the FRC’s fear that Christian schools and businesses would be required to hire “homosexuals and cross-dressers” does not apply. According to civilrights.org, ENDA “also acknowledges that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees of religious organizations should be aware that they could lose their jobs, even jobs that do not serve a clearly religious function, because of sexual orientation or gender identity.” Ironically, it would seem that if the FRC’s basis for opposing ENDA is mostly based on religious reasons, then group should be in favor of this bill that cements into law the exemption of religious organizations from employment non-discrimination.