Employment law
US Senate votes to move LGBT employment law forward
The US Senate on Monday voted 61-30 to move forward with the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which prohibits employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. As federal law currently stands, employers are only prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, sex, national origin, disability and age.
Only a minority of states currently extend employment protections to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Senate approval of this legislation would be a victory for gay rights advocactes, as a similar measure was introduced in 1996 under the Bill Clinton administration, but failed to move forward by one vote. If ultimately approved by the Senate, the legislation would next proceed to the House of Representatives, where it will face strong opposition led by Speaker John Boehner.
Discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity has recently been a controversial issue in the US. The US Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) in July approved a version of ENDA. HELP held a hearing in June 2012 regarding ENDA, focusing on discrimination faced by LGBT employees across the country.
Earlier in June 2012 JURIST Guest Columnist Brynne Madway argued that the LGBT community must shift some of its focus to promoting anti-discrimination laws, noting that only a small number of states have nondiscrimination laws that include gender identity and sexual orientation. In January the Virginia Senate initially approved legislation that would prohibit the state government from discriminating against its employees based on sexual orientation.
(Published by Jurist – November 5, 2013)