October 4, 2007 12:32 AM BST
H.R.2015
Title: To prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Sponsor: Rep Frank, Barney [MA-4] (introduced 4/24/2007) Cosponsors (171)
Latest Major Action: 9/5/2007 House committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Subcommittee Hearings Held.
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SUMMARY AS OF:
4/24/2007--Introduced.
Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 - Prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity by covered entities (employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, or joint labor-management committees). Prohibits preferential treatment or quotas. Allows only disparate treatment claims.
Prohibits related retaliation.
Makes this Act inapplicable to: (1) religious organizations; and (2) the relationship between the United States and members of the armed forces. States that this Act does not repeal or modify any federal, state, territorial, or local law creating a special right or preference concerning employment for a veteran.
Provides for the construction of this Act with regard to: (1) enforcement by employers of rules and policies; (2) sexual harassment; (3) certain shared facilities such as showers or dressing facilities; (4) dress and grooming standards; and (5) certain matters relating to marriage.
Prohibits the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from collecting statistics from covered entities on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity or compelling the collection by covered entities of such statistics.
Provides for enforcement, including giving the EEOC, the Librarian of Congress, the Attorney General, and U.S. courts the same enforcement powers as they have under specified provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991, and other specified laws.
Allows actions and proceedings against state governments and, subject to limitation, the federal government.
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MAJOR ACTIONS:
***NONE***
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ALL ACTIONS:
4/24/2007:
Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Oversight and Government Reform, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
4/24/2007:
Referred to House Education and Labor
9/5/2007:
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
9/5/2007:
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
4/24/2007:
Referred to House House Administration
4/24/2007:
Referred to House Oversight and Government Reform
4/24/2007:
Referred to House Judiciary
5/4/2007:
Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
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TITLE(S): (italics indicate a title for a portion of a bill)
***NONE***
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COSPONSORS(171), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)
Rep Abercrombie, Neil [HI-1] - 4/24/2007 Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5] - 4/24/2007
Rep Allen, Thomas H. [ME-1] - 4/24/2007 Rep Andrews, Robert E. [NJ-1] - 4/24/2007
Rep Arcuri, Michael A. [NY-24] - 6/22/2007 Rep Baca, Joe [CA-43] - 7/17/2007
Rep Baird, Brian [WA-3] - 7/30/2007 Rep Baldwin, Tammy [WI-2] - 4/24/2007
Rep Bean, Melissa L. [IL-8] - 6/7/2007 Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] - 5/23/2007
Rep Berman, Howard L. [CA-28] - 4/24/2007 Rep Biggert, Judy [IL-13] - 6/22/2007
Rep Bishop, Timothy H. [NY-1] - 4/26/2007 Rep Blumenauer, Earl [OR-3] - 5/9/2007
Rep Boswell, Leonard L. [IA-3] - 5/16/2007 Rep Boyda, Nancy E. [KS-2] - 9/19/2007
Rep Brady, Robert A. [PA-1] - 5/2/2007 Rep Braley, Bruce L. [IA-1] - 9/19/2007
Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23] - 4/24/2007 Rep Capuano, Michael E. [MA-8] - 4/24/2007
Rep Carnahan, Russ [MO-3] - 5/16/2007 Rep Carson, Julia [IN-7] - 5/8/2007
Rep Castor, Kathy [FL-11] - 6/22/2007 Rep Clarke, Yvette D. [NY-11] - 5/9/2007
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy [MO-1] - 4/24/2007 Rep Cleaver, Emanuel [MO-5] - 4/24/2007
Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] - 5/2/2007 Rep Cooper, Jim [TN-5] - 7/30/2007
Rep Costa, Jim [CA-20] - 9/5/2007 Rep Courtney, Joe [CT-2] - 6/26/2007
Rep Crowley, Joseph [NY-7] - 4/24/2007 Rep Cummings, Elijah E. [MD-7] - 4/24/2007
Rep Davis, Danny K. [IL-7] - 8/2/2007 Rep Davis, Susan A. [CA-53] - 4/24/2007
Rep DeFazio, Peter A. [OR-4] - 4/24/2007 Rep DeGette, Diana [CO-1] - 5/2/2007
Rep Delahunt, William D. [MA-10] - 4/24/2007 Rep DeLauro, Rosa L. [CT-3] - 7/30/2007
Rep Dicks, Norman D. [WA-6] - 5/8/2007 Rep Dingell, John D. [MI-15] - 4/24/2007
Rep Doggett, Lloyd [TX-25] - 4/24/2007 Rep Doyle, Michael F. [PA-14] - 4/24/2007
Rep Ellison, Keith [MN-5] - 4/24/2007 Rep Emanuel, Rahm [IL-5] - 4/24/2007
Rep Engel, Eliot L. [NY-17] - 4/24/2007 Rep Eshoo, Anna G. [CA-14] - 7/11/2007
Rep Farr, Sam [CA-17] - 4/24/2007 Rep Fattah, Chaka [PA-2] - 5/2/2007
Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51] - 4/24/2007 Rep Giffords, Gabrielle [AZ-8] - 6/7/2007
Rep Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [NY-20] - 6/26/2007 Rep Gonzalez, Charles A. [TX-20] - 4/24/2007
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 5/1/2007 Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. [IL-4] - 9/19/2007
Rep Hall, John J. [NY-19] - 8/1/2007 Rep Hare, Phil [IL-17] - 6/15/2007
Rep Harman, Jane [CA-36] - 6/28/2007 Rep Hastings, Alcee L. [FL-23] - 4/24/2007
Rep Higgins, Brian [NY-27] - 6/28/2007 Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22] - 4/24/2007
Rep Hinojosa, Ruben [TX-15] - 4/24/2007 Rep Hirono, Mazie K. [HI-2] - 4/24/2007
Rep Hodes, Paul W. [NH-2] - 5/1/2007 Rep Holden, Tim [PA-17] - 5/1/2007
Rep Holt, Rush D. [NJ-12] - 4/24/2007 Rep Honda, Michael M. [CA-15] - 4/24/2007
Rep Hooley, Darlene [OR-5] - 9/4/2007 Rep Inslee, Jay [WA-1] - 9/4/2007
Rep Israel, Steve [NY-2] - 5/16/2007 Rep Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. [IL-2] - 5/9/2007
Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18] - 4/24/2007 Rep Jefferson, William J. [LA-2] - 7/17/2007
Rep Johnson, Eddie Bernice [TX-30] - 4/24/2007 Rep Johnson, Henry C. "Hank," Jr. [GA-4] - 4/24/2007
Rep Jones, Stephanie Tubbs [OH-11] - 5/1/2007 Rep Kennedy, Patrick J. [RI-1] - 4/26/2007
Rep Kildee, Dale E. [MI-5] - 5/2/2007 Rep Kilpatrick, Carolyn C. [MI-13] - 4/24/2007
Rep Kirk, Mark Steven [IL-10] - 5/1/2007 Rep Klein, Ron [FL-22] - 5/23/2007
Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] - 9/5/2007 Rep Langevin, James R. [RI-2] - 4/24/2007
Rep Lantos, Tom [CA-12] - 5/24/2007 Rep Larsen, Rick [WA-2] - 9/26/2007
Rep Larson, John B. [CT-1] - 5/23/2007 Rep Lee, Barbara [CA-9] - 4/26/2007
Rep Levin, Sander M. [MI-12] - 4/24/2007 Rep Lewis, John [GA-5] - 7/11/2007
Rep Loebsack, David [IA-2] - 4/24/2007 Rep Lofgren, Zoe [CA-16] - 4/24/2007
Rep Lowey, Nita M. [NY-18] - 4/26/2007 Rep Lynch, Stephen F. [MA-9] - 4/26/2007
Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] - 4/24/2007 Rep Markey, Edward J. [MA-7] - 4/24/2007
Rep Matheson, Jim [UT-2] - 4/24/2007 Rep Matsui, Doris O. [CA-5] - 5/9/2007
Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4] - 9/4/2007 Rep McCollum, Betty [MN-4] - 4/24/2007
Rep McDermott, Jim [WA-7] - 4/24/2007 Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3] - 4/24/2007
Rep McNerney, Jerry [CA-11] - 7/11/2007 Rep McNulty, Michael R. [NY-21] - 4/26/2007
Rep Meehan, Martin T. [MA-5] - 4/24/2007 Rep Meek, Kendrick B. [FL-17] - 9/26/2007
Rep Meeks, Gregory W. [NY-6] - 6/13/2007 Rep Michaud, Michael H. [ME-2] - 4/24/2007
Rep Miller, Brad [NC-13] - 7/17/2007 Rep Miller, George [CA-7] - 5/23/2007
Rep Mitchell, Harry E. [AZ-5] - 7/19/2007 Rep Moore, Dennis [KS-3] - 4/24/2007
Rep Moore, Gwen [WI-4] - 7/11/2007 Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8] - 4/24/2007
Rep Murphy, Christopher S. [CT-5] - 4/26/2007 Rep Murphy, Patrick J. [PA-8] - 5/16/2007
Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8] - 4/24/2007 Rep Napolitano, Grace F. [CA-38] - 5/1/2007
Rep Neal, Richard E. [MA-2] - 4/24/2007 Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes [DC] - 4/24/2007
Rep Olver, John W. [MA-1] - 4/24/2007 Rep Pallone, Frank, Jr. [NJ-6] - 4/24/2007
Rep Pascrell, Bill, Jr. [NJ-8] - 4/24/2007 Rep Pastor, Ed [AZ-4] - 4/24/2007
Rep Payne, Donald M. [NJ-10] - 4/26/2007 Rep Perlmutter, Ed [CO-7] - 6/28/2007
Rep Price, David E. [NC-4] - 9/5/2007 Rep Pryce, Deborah [OH-15] - 4/24/2007
Rep Rangel, Charles B. [NY-15] - 4/24/2007 Rep Reyes, Silvestre [TX-16] - 6/22/2007
Rep Rodriguez, Ciro D. [TX-23] - 6/28/2007 Rep Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana [FL-18] - 4/24/2007
Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9] - 5/1/2007 Rep Roybal-Allard, Lucille [CA-34] - 7/19/2007
Rep Ryan, Tim [OH-17] - 8/1/2007 Rep Salazar, John T. [CO-3] - 7/17/2007
Rep Sanchez, Linda T. [CA-39] - 4/24/2007 Rep Sarbanes, John P. [MD-3] - 7/11/2007
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9] - 5/1/2007 Rep Schiff, Adam B. [CA-29] - 4/24/2007
Rep Scott, Robert C. "Bobby" [VA-3] - 5/8/2007 Rep Serrano, Jose E. [NY-16] - 6/7/2007
Rep Sestak, Joe [PA-7] - 5/1/2007 Rep Shays, Christopher [CT-4] - 4/24/2007
Rep Shea-Porter, Carol [NH-1] - 5/2/2007 Rep Sherman, Brad [CA-27] - 5/8/2007
Rep Sires, Albio [NJ-13] - 4/24/2007 Rep Slaughter, Louise McIntosh [NY-28] - 5/23/2007
Rep Smith, Adam [WA-9] - 6/7/2007 Rep Solis, Hilda L. [CA-32] - 6/13/2007
Rep Stark, Fortney Pete [CA-13] - 6/26/2007 Rep Sutton, Betty [OH-13] - 5/8/2007
Rep Tauscher, Ellen O. [CA-10] - 5/9/2007 Rep Thompson, Mike [CA-1] - 6/7/2007
Rep Tierney, John F. [MA-6] - 5/16/2007 Rep Towns, Edolphus [NY-10] - 9/19/2007
Rep Udall, Mark [CO-2] - 4/26/2007 Rep Udall, Tom [NM-3] - 6/26/2007
Rep Van Hollen, Chris [MD-8] - 4/24/2007 Rep Velazquez, Nydia M. [NY-12] - 5/1/2007
Rep Walz, Timothy J. [MN-1] - 6/28/2007 Rep Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [FL-20] - 5/9/2007
Rep Waters, Maxine [CA-35] - 5/16/2007 Rep Watson, Diane E. [CA-33] - 7/17/2007
Rep Watt, Melvin L. [NC-12] - 7/19/2007 Rep Waxman, Henry A. [CA-30] - 4/24/2007
Rep Weiner, Anthony D. [NY-9] - 5/1/2007 Rep Welch, Peter [VT] - 6/15/2007
Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 4/24/2007 Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [CA-6] - 5/16/2007
Rep Wu, David [OR-1] - 4/24/2007 Rep Wynn, Albert Russell [MD-4] - 4/24/2007
Rep Yarmuth, John A. [KY-3] - 6/13/2007
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COMMITTEE(S):
Committee/Subcommittee: Activity:
House Education and Labor Referral, In Committee
Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Referral, Hearings
House Administration Referral, In Committee
House Oversight and Government Reform Referral, In Committee
House Judiciary Referral, In Committee
Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Referral
October 4, 2007 12:39 AM BST
Tell your Representative to keep ENDA transgender inclusive!
Make sure that PFLAG's voice is heard in Washington!
Over the past several days, PFLAGers proved that we will leave no member of our family behind. Your calls have made a difference. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has temporarily delayed action on the non-transgender-inclusive version of H.R. 2015, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). In the next two weeks the GLBT community needs to demonstrate that we are firm in our support for all members of our community.
House members need to hear from you!
Every call or in-district visit that you make puts us one step closer to our goal of full inclusion. Click the Take Action button and enter your zip code. You will be directed to a page with your representative’s phone number as well as a phone script to help with your calls.
In the next two weeks, please take the time to schedule a visit or drop-in on your representative’s home district office. You may find your Representative’s district office address by visiting www.capwiz.com/pflag and PFLAG talking points by visiting http://www.pflag.org/ENDA.enda.0.html.
Moving equality forward means moving equality forward for all of us – not just a select few. Don’t let our PFLAG family be divided. Please make the call TODAY!
October 4, 2007 12:43 AM BST
ARAMAC ACTION ALERT: Call Your Representative and Urge Them to Vote "YES WITHOUT AMENDMENT"
House Foreign Affairs Committee to Vote on H. Res. 106 Next Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Armenian Genocide Resolution Scheduled for Vote in House Foreign Affairs Committee
The House Foreign Affairs Committee has scheduled H. Res. 106 for a vote in committee next Wednesday, October 10, 2007.
Now is the time to contact your Member of Congress and urge a “YES” vote without Amendment on H. Res. 106. If your Representative serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, contact him/her and urge them to vote “YES WITHOUT AMENDMENT” on H. Res. 106. Currently, the House Foreign Affairs Committee consists of 50 Members, 23 of whom are co-sponsors to H. Res. 106.
It is imperative that Armenian-Americans call, write and/or email their Representative who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Leave no doubt that the Turkish community and the Turkish Lobby will be ramping up their efforts to block this bill. It is up to every Armenian-American individually and us as a community to ensure passage of this critical bill this month.
Now is the time! Together, we can make history. Urge your Representative to vote “YES WITHOUT AMENDMENT” on this important human rights bill
October 4, 2007 12:51 AM BST
Kerry Challenges Congress to Pass ENDA legislation
Introduces ENDA Bill that extends existing civil rights protection already afforded to other persons
Thursday, June 24, 1999
Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. John Kerry today gave the following statement on the introduction of the "Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 1999":
"Once again, this ENDA legislation gives us the opportunity to send a strong message that all Americans matter, and that no one should suffer discrimination in the workplace.
"We hear a lot from Congress today how we are a country of laws, not men. Let them make good on those words and pass this legislation that ensures that every American civil rights protection.
"I've heard from people in Massachusetts, who have been fired from their jobs for no other reason than they were gay or perceived to be gay. This is wrong. In Massachusetts, the state provides them with legal recourse. It is long overdue for our nation to come together to ease the fear of prejudice in the work place and provide every American with this same protection."
ENDA would extend federal employment protections currently based on race, religion, gender, national origin, age and disability to sexual orientation. The bill would prohibit employers, employment agencies and labor unions from using an individual's sexual orientation as the basis for employment decisions, such as hiring, firing, promotion or compensation.
In 1985 Kerry authored the first federal gay civil right bill. He is an original co-sponsor of ENDA and has sponsored anti-discrimination bills every year that he has been in Congress.
Contact: Massachusetts media email
[email protected]. All other press inquiries email
[email protected].
October 9, 2007 10:46 AM BST
How Far Will Democrats Go On Gay Rights?
Tom Curry
MSNBC
POSTED: 10:28 am PDT October 5, 2007
UPDATED: 6:43 am PDT October 8, 2007
http://www.nbc11. com/msnbcnews/ 14278223/ detail.html
WASHINGTON - The gay rights movement has come a long way since 1970 when Vice President Spiro Agnew attacked a liberal Republican critic of the Nixon Administration.
Agnew called Sen. Charles Goodell of New York "the Christine Jorgensen of the Republican Party."
Pundits found Agnew's sneering reference to the well-known 1950s transsexual clever, even if a bit harsh.
Today members of Congress aren't making such people the butt of jokes; they're debating whether they should have protection under federal law.
Many Americans know and work with a gay or lesbian person, but how many have a nodding acquaintance with a transgender person?
That distinction may explain why the House of Representatives is likely to vote within the next few weeks for job protections for gays and lesbians, but not for people who are transsexuals or adopt the appearance andmannerisms of the other sex.
The House Democratic leadership is giving activists from gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) groups a few weeks to try to round up the votes to include transgender people in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).
The bill would make it illegal for an employer to fire, refuse to hire, or offer less pay to a person "because of such individual's actual or perceived sexual orientation. "
Activists "have two weeks to try to get the votes" to include transgender people in ENDA, said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chief sponsor of the bill.
Defining 'gender identity'
Frank's original ENDA, introduced last April, also said employers could not discriminate against workers on the basis of "gender identity" which his bill defined as "the gender-related identity, appearance, or mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, with or without regard to the individual's designated sex at birth."
The new version of Frank's bill drops gender identity as a protected status.
A House veteran of 26 years, Frank comes to this conclusion: "The problem is we don't have the votes" to give ENDA job coverage to transgenders.
But the fact that the House is even considering this idea shows how much has changed in the last few decades.
With the 2008 elections in sight, the transgender issue could give House Democrats in conservative- leaning districts something to vote against even as they vote for ENDA for gays and lesbians.
The view from Dover, Ohio
One Democratic freshman in a Republican-leaning district, Rep. Zack Space of Ohio, said he supports the idea of banning workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians.
But legal protections for transgender people, he said, is a "more foreign" idea, and he is "not comfortable making a commitment on that."
But even without transgender people included in it, would ENDA be politically unpalatable in Space's Ohio district? "It may be, or it may not be," Space said. "My vote on that issue is not based on the fallout politically. "
President Bush carried Space's district in 2004 with 57 percent of the vote.
Also in 2004, Ohio voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot initiative amending the state constitution to make "only a union between one man and one woman" legally valid.
But marriage, Space said "is an entirely different matter" than employment policies.
ENDA "is not an insuperable problem for most of the Democratic freshman," said Frank. "Several (Democratic) freshmen told me they'd vote for it."
A Republican co-sponsor of ENDA, Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., estimates that 20 of the 202 House Republicans would vote for ENDA, if it did not have transgender people included in it, while "practically none" would vote for it if transgender people were included.
The passage of ENDA, even if it led to a veto by Bush, would "set down a maker for a future president," Frank said.
Eventually the House will pass ENDA protection for transgender people, but not this year, Frank said.
The power of the GLBT lobby
"The Democratic leadership believes in nondiscrimination on account of sexual orientation, " said congressional scholar Prof. John Pitney, who teaches politics at Claremont McKenna College.
"It also recognizes the power of the GLBT constituency, " he said. "The leading gay political organization, the Human Rights Campaign has half a million members nationwide. Its PAC gave more than a million dollars in 2006, 91 percent to Democratic candidates."
ENDA, he said, "may hurt Democrats in socially conservative districts."
But have the cases of former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., who quit last year after his sexually provocative text messages to a male House page were published, and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, caught in a bathroom sex sting, eroded Republicans' ability to use gay rights against Democrats?
"Though the Foley and Craig incidents may limit the GOP's ability to highlight gay issues, conservative and religious activists will still criticize lawmakers who support such a measure," said Pitney, who added that "congressional Democrats are testing the limits of how far they can go before triggering a backlash."
"What we have to combat now is the fear of Democrats of being tied too closely to the GLBT community," said Jeremy Bishop, Executive Director of Pride At Work, a GLBT advocacy group within the AFL-CIO.
He urged Democratic leaders to "not waffle because of fears of a backlash." Bishop's group supports including transgender people in ENDA.
Asked about the Democrats' push for ENDA, House Republican Whip Roy Blunt said he was surprised that "they're so aggressively defining themselves."
He said, "It is helpful to us that they're defining the difference between the two parties.... On this issue and other issues, they're helping create an understanding of what the two parties are for and I think at the end of the day that's good for us."