There will be a hearing in the United States House of Representatives Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, H.R. 3017 , on Wednesday September 23rd at 10am.
U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, today announced that on Wednesday, September 23, he will hold the first full committee hearing in the House of Representatives on legislation to prohibit employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 3017), introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), would prohibit employment discrimination, preferential treatment, and retaliation on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity by employers with 15 or more employees. Currently, it is legal to discriminate in the workplace based on sexual orientation in 29 states and in 38 states based on gender identity.
Witnesses:
U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)
Hon. Stuart J. Ishimaru
Acting Chairman
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
William Eskridge
John A. Garver Professor of Jurisprudence
Yale Law School
Vandy Beth Glenn
fired from her Georgia state legislative job when she told her supervisor she was transitioning from male to female
Camille Olson
Partner
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Craig Parshall
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
National Religious Broadcasters Association
Rabbi David Saperstein
Director
The Religious Action Center
Brad Sears
Executive Director
Williams Institute
UCLA School of Law
Additional witnesses TBA
Pam Spaulding over at The Blend has posted a great fact sheet on what ENDA does and does not do:
WHAT THE BILL DOES
* Federal employment laws currently prevent job discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, national origin, age and disability. ENDA would extend this to cover sexual orientation and gender identity, covering all LGBT Americans.
* Although some states have laws to prevent such discrimination, in 29 states it is legal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and in 38 states it is legal to discriminate on the basis of gender identity.
* The bill covers both the public and private sectors.
* The bill has more than 170 cosponsors, including Democrats and Republicans. The current list of original cosponsors will be available after the press conference.
WHAT THE BILL DOES NOT DO
* The legislation does not afford "special rights" to any group.
*
* The legislation specifically prohibits preferential treatment on the basis of quotas.
* The legislation does not apply to members of the Armed Services, veterans' service groups, and religious organizations.
* The legislation does not require employers to provide benefits to domestic partners.
* The legislation does not apply to organizations with less than 15 employees.
* The legislation does not prevent businesses from enforcing dress codes
In 2007 a version of ENDA without gender identity protections (which MadProfessah and others called 'fake ENDA' or "SPLENDA") passed the U.S. House in the 110th Congress but died in the Senate. In the current, 111th Congress, with a larger Democratic majority a version of ENDA with gender identity was introduced this summer and is widely expected to pass the U.S. House again and possibly the Senate, where President Barack Obama would eagerly sign it into law.
The 111th Congress has already passed the federal hate crimes act in April 2009 but it has not been taken up in the Senate, leading some to worry about ENDA's chances in the upper legislative body.
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