House Passes Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA)

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) by a vote of 235 to 184. Since 1974, Democrats in Congress have been attempting to pass ENDA without success, coming close in 1996 during the Clinton presidency. Its fate in the Senate is uncertain. Nevertheless, President Bush has said he would veto the legislation. ENDA would be the first federal ban on discrimination against gay men, lesbians and bisexuals in the workplace. Churches, the military and businesses with less than 15 employees would be exempt. Supporters of the legislation were disappointed that gender identity was not included in the bill, but many accepted that civil rights is often an incremental process. Opponents of the bill claimed that it would interfere with their First Amendment right to freely practice their religion and that it would ultimately create more lawsuits. Nineteen states already have similar laws and 90% of Fortune 500 companies have similar policies.