legislation
From Our Friends at Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund
Submitted by Ryan on Fri, 10/23/2009 - 1:21pmWe did it! We got hate crimes legislation through the House and Senate and the bill now sits upon President Obama's desk, ready for his signature. For the first time in this country's history, gender identity and expression is protected under US law. But the work does not stop here. We must continue to reach out to other communities and build strong alliances to further the success for all of our issues. And hate crimes legislation doesn't magically change the fact that hate crimes will occur for people of different sexual orientations and gender identities. This legislation simply provides additional redress against those who target us. But for now, let us revel in a win.
More from our friends at Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund:
Passage of Employment Non-Discrimination Act is critical
Submitted by Admin on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 1:44pmThe state of the workplace for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people - transgender Americans in particular - is 'absolutely shameful'
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 - The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund today submitted testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor that spotlights the critical need for passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The committee held a hearing on the legislation today.
"For decades, a majority has supported protecting their friends, family and neighbors from discrimination. They know it's wrong to deprive lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of the ability to earn a livelihood and provide for their families simply because of who they are," says Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "ENDA reflects the core U.S. values of fairness and ensuring everyone is allowed to participate on a level playing field in the workplace. People recognize that our nation as a whole benefits when everyone is allowed to contribute their talents and skills, free from discrimination, which is all ENDA seeks to do."
Task Force testimony includes preliminary data from a forthcoming and groundbreaking survey on discrimination against transgender people in the United States. Data from this large-scale, first-of-its-kind survey show that discrimination in employment against transgender people is a nearly universal experience: 97 percent of the respondents reported being mistreated or harassed at work, and nearly half (47 percent) said they had lost their jobs, were denied a promotion, or denied a job as a direct result of being transgender. The Task Force is partnering with the National Center for Transgender Equality on the survey.
"These figures point to enormous vulnerability related to anti-transgender bias," says Carey. "Federal protections in employment are a lynchpin for creating economically viable lives for transgender people. Our data show a potent path that is cut to victimization, housing insecurity and poor health due to loss of a job, or by harassment and bias that force a perfectly productive employee onto the unemployment rolls."
A 2007 meta-analysis from the Williams Institute of 50 studies of workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people found consistent evidence of bias in the workplace. The analysis found that up to 68 percent of LGBT people reported experiencing employment discrimination, and up to 17 percent said they had been fired or denied employment.
"The bottom line: The state of the workplace for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people - transgender Americans in particular - is absolutely shameful," says Carey. "Passing and enacting ENDA will go a long way in rectifying that."
The Task Force was the first national organization to advocate for federal nondiscrimination protections when it worked with then-U.S. Reps. Bella Abzug and Ed Koch to introduce a sweeping bill in 1974. The Task Force has also played a leading role in ensuring ENDA is explicitly inclusive of transgender people and others facing discrimination based on gender identity. The Task Force vowed a decade ago to oppose the legislation if it did not include protections based on gender identity.
Reporter resources:
Download the Task Force testimony.
http://www.thetaskforce.org/
Download the ENDA-related fact sheet on transgender discrimination.
http://www.thetaskforce.org/
Learn more about the Task Force's long history on this issue.
http://www.thetaskforce.org/
To learn more about the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, visit www.theTaskForce.org and follow us on Twitter: @TheTaskForce (http://www.twitter.com/
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund, founded in 1974 as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Inc., works to build the grassroots political power of the LGBT community to win complete equality. We do this through direct and grassroots lobbying to defeat anti-LGBT ballot initiatives and legislation and pass pro-LGBT legislation and other measures. We also analyze and report on the positions of candidates for public office on issues of importance to the LGBT community. The Task Force Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) non-profit corporation incorporated in New York.
Contributions to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund are not tax deductible.
