Mother of ENDA Appointed to EEOC by Obama

This is very cool! Openly lesbian Georgetown law professor Chai Feldblum and self-described mother of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (and primary author of the Americans with Disabilities Act) has been appointed by the Obama Administration to sit on the federal commission that is tasked with insuring anti-discrimination in employment nationwide, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Here's the formal announcement from the White House:

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals today:

Chai R. Feldblum, Nominee for Commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Chai Feldblum is a Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center where she has taught since 1991. She also founded the Law Center’s Federal Legislation and Administrative Clinic, a program designed to train students to become legislative lawyers. Feldblum previously served as Legislative Counsel to the AIDS Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. In this role, she developed legislation, analyzed policy on various AIDS-related issues, and played a leading role in the drafting of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and, later as a law professor, in the passage of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. She has also worked on advancing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and has been a leading expert on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act. As Co-Director of Workplace Flexibility 2010, Feldblum has worked to advance flexible workplaces in a manner that works for employees and employers. Feldblum clerked for Judge Frank Coffin and for Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun. She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and B.A. from Barnard College.

I have met Professor Feldblum at seminars at the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School. I still remember her calling ENDA her "baby." She quipped "hey, I don't have kids, I have federal bills."

Perhaps this signals a more extensive political push for passage of ENDA through this Congress?