Update on ENDA

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The House of Representatives on Nov. 7 passed a version of ENDA that includes protections on the basis of sexual orientation but not gender identity. It is very unlikely ENDA in any version will be voted on in the Senate this year and the White House has promised to veto it if we ever got that far. In addition, no one expects any action on ENDA during 2008, due to the election cycle. That means we have to start today to make sure an ENDA that protects all of us is enacted in 2009 when, hopefully, we will have more pro-LGBT votes in Congress and a president who will sign it.

While the debate over the last few weeks has been divisive and unnecessary, many great things occurred. More than 360 organizations came together as United ENDA and affirmed with unwavering clarity that we are one community linked by our united support for civil rights protections for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

In a remarkable flurry of action from coast to coast, from small towns and major cities, the LGBT community has generated unprecedented contact with legislators and in the process has impacted future conversations and legislation. Dozens of House offices told us they have never heard from our community in such numbers and with such passion on any issue, ever. All of this activity forced House leadership to defer taking the stripped-down ENDA to the House floor not once, but seven times.

While the passage in the House of Representatives today of this stripped-down ENDA is deeply disappointing, we have seen a tremendous shift in the commitment of a growing number of legislators to only support an inclusive ENDA in the future.

Despite the action taken today in the House, the United ENDA coalition will continue to expand, and we intend to harness the passion, grassroots activism and local, state and national organization leadership. Collectively, we are committed to working with Congress toward the ultimate goal of passing a fully inclusive ENDA and getting it signed into law by the president in 2009.

We will be in touch with you about how you can make that happen. Onward and upward!

Task Force, Inc., responds to House passage of non-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act