From the Task Force: Working Together for a United ENDA

Posted on October 2, 2007
Filed Under News, lgbT |

Over the past week, our community has united – from coast to coast, and across the heartland — as never before.

In response to announcements that Congressional leaders intended to strip protections for gender identity from ENDA, an unprecedented campaign made up of national, state, and local groups swung into action.  

Over 100 national and state LGBT organizations that signed onto a letter to Congressional leaders voicing our overwhelming objections to a diminished bill that leaves all community members vulnerable to discrimination. 

Staff members from National Center for Transgender Equality, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), National Stonewall Democrats, and others have been meeting with Capitol Hill staff and mobilizing their constituents across the country delivering the unambiguous message: We are united in the passage of a fully inclusive ENDA.  And, importantly, we oppose any sexual orientation-only bill.  

The Equality Federation, backed by scores of state organizations and organizers, joined the powerful chorus of voices calling on Congress to restore the original ENDA.  

The American Civil Liberties Union, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal, and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders sent out action alerts, press releases, and legal analyses of the severe shortcomings of the proposed new stripped-down bill.  

With blog activists amplifying the message that we must stand firm, LGBT individuals and allies from every corner of the country contacted their Congressional representative to voice their distress and concern.  And across the country, national, state, and local transgender organizations – from NCTE in Washington to Transgender Law Center in San Francisco to the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition – launched letter and email writing campaigns, organized vigils and mobilized a powerful plea to Congress not to leave transgender and gender non-conforming people behind.  

With tens of thousands of voices, and with one clear message, we have called on Congress to return to the work of passing a fully inclusive ENDA. 

The result has been powerful.  In the course of a few days, we have made our voices heard and demonstrated just how powerful we can be when we work together for the good of our entire community. 

As a result, after being bombarded with calls and emails, yesterday Speaker Pelosi and Congressional Leaders George Miller, Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank issued a statement making clear the committee vote would be delayed, allowing us time to continue expanding support for the bill that protects us all. This is a major victory, but we have much more to do.

This means that we must work harder than ever before to make the case to Congress about why protections for gender identity and expression are critically important – not only for transgender people but for many lesbian, gay, and bisexual people who are gender non-conforming.   

We must maintain unity and focus in the weeks ahead. To achieve that goal, the organizations who signed the letter have joined together today to form “United ENDA” – a campaign to pass a fully- inclusive ENDA in this Congress and to oppose any version that leaves transgender people behind. 

In the days and weeks ahead, when literally every minute will count, United ENDA will serve as a mechanism for up-to-the-minute information to ensure our community is fully informed and a part of a unified strategy.  A grassroots effort has secured this opportunity to pass a fully inclusive bill and a grassroots mobilization, even larger than what has been created this last week, will be required to shore up the support needed in these crucial coming weeks.  

We will hold daily briefing calls for those who have signed onto the letter and send out daily updates, talking points and shifts in strategy as they evolve.   

In order to join United ENDA and attend regular briefing calls, an organization must first sign on to the letter (or issue an equivalent public statement expressing opposition to sexual orientation-only legislation). To sign on, contact lmottet@thetaskforce.org.  

ACTION STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TODAY:

What organizations and individuals can do now to support passage of a fully-inclusive ENDA:

  1. If not done already, sign onto the organizational letter opposing any non-inclusive version of ENDA.  Send your sign on to lmottet@thetaskforce.org (and, answer the Spam Filter bounceback if you receive one). If you do not receive a confirmation, send another email, and then call 202 639 6308.
  2. Action alerts should be recrafted and sent to your members.  In the next day, new suggested action alert text will be sent to folks reflecting the current messages needed. If you need further assistance crafting action alert language, contact Toni Broaddus at toni@equalityfederation.org or Dave Noble at dnoble@thetaskforce.org.  Visits to members of Congress are more important than ever.  Send any pertinent information learned from members and their offices to bdansky@thetaskforce.org and mkeisling@nctequality.org. 
  3. Individuals can sign onto the two online petitions, and groups can encourage individuals to sign them.
  4. Individuals/Organizations can also join the Facebook group “One ENDA: For the Employment Protections of All LGBT People”: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5065064220
     

All of the work done by organizations over the last few days is clearly having the effect we collectively hoped it would. Moving a fully-inclusive ENDA, and stopping a sexual orientation-only bill permanently, is within our reach.

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