Employment Non-Discrimination Act
Employment discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender workers is pervasive and harmful. It violates core
American values of fairness and equality by discriminating against
qualified individuals based on characteristics unrelated to the
job.
Over the years, Congress has responded when it found that people
were not being hired or promoted for unfair or arbitrary reasons,
such as race, gender, national origin, or disability. When Congress
has found such discrimination, it passed laws to restore civil
rights by ensuring arbitrary considerations do not determine access
to employment. We believe such legislation continues to be an
essential part of equal protection under the law.
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) offers Congress the
opportunity to ensure workplace equality by protecting LGBT workers
from employment discrimination. ENDA is pending federal legislation
that would ban employment discrimination based on an individual's
sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill protects workers
from discriminatory hiring, firing, promotion or compensation
practices, as well as retaliation for reporting such practices.
Once this is passed Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender people that
are employees of the Federal government both military and civilian
we be included in diversity events as a "Special Emphasis Groups."
Technically they should already be included, but the Federal
government has failed to do so thus far. We suspect it is, because
many people would like to continue to force LGBT into the
closet!