If you aren't already familiar with the anagram, ENDA , it refers to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act which has floated in and out of Congress under different names for the past 30 years. Yes LGBT readers, you can still be fired in many states in the U.S. merely because you are Gay or Lesbian.
The bill is active again now and thank God, we have a Democratic-controlled Congress. H.R. 2017 could very well be voted on in the Fall. As much as it may be a no-brainer for us equality-minded folks, there are still a number of Congressmen who remain undecided and need a little nudge.
Dr. Jillian Weiss is the Co-Chair of Inclusive ENDA, a Facebook group dedicated towards getting ENDA passed. Her time and effort should be applauded as the group now has over 3,000 members and Dr. Weiss is dilligent in getting the status of the bill out to everyone.
3,000 is nice, but considering our current numbers of 10-14 million Gays in America, let's not make the same apathetic mistake that some of us made in California with Prop 8. "Oh, it will pass, this is California!"
As the Editor of Echelon, I have always believed that the way to attain our equal rights across the board will be achieved through economic prowess.
As obvious as ENDA is to all of us, we still don't have the votes for it to pass yet. In the latest email sent by Dr. Weiss, she calculates that we are only 14 votes shy of it barely passing. She also provides a list of politicians who are still on the fence.
We need to get behind this one. In the list of unconfirmed reps they provide a link for you to send an email asking your Congressman to confirm their support for the Employment Non Discrimination Act H.R. 3017. So please visit the page, see if your rep is on it and if so, send the email. And if you are on Facebook, join the group.
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