U.S. Senate Pashes ENDA by 64-32 Votes

This afternoon the United States Senate passed an inclusive version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act ("ENDA") after rejecting an amendment that would have expanded the already too broad religious exemptions from the Act's scope.  Now, of course, ENDA faces an uphill battle in the House of Representatives where the GOP members remain largely the puppets of the Christofascists/Tea Party. Here are excepts from Politico on today's events and the road ahead (NOTE: it is note worthy that GOP aides are outright lying about the supposed current existence of protections; they do not exist in 29 states.  I was fired in 2004 for being gay, so I know about first hand):

The Senate made history Thursday, voting 64-32 to pass landmark legislation extending workplace protections to the LGBT community.

The legislation now heads to the House, where Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) opposes the measure. GOP aides argue that the protections contained in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act — which bans workplace discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation — are already enjoyed by American workers.

Democrats disagree — and noted that Boehner’s home state of Ohio is a state where such discrimination is not prohibited.

“The time has come for Congress to pass a federal law that ensures all citizens, regardless of where they live, can go to work not afraid of who they are,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said, adding that many Americans are under the impression that ENDA is already federal law. “Well it isn’t already the law. But that is what they feel. Let’s do what the American people think already exists.”

Senate Democratic leaders and other chief ENDA backers launched a rhetorical campaign before the bill even passed, calling on the speaker to be on the right side of history. They believe that ENDA would pass the House if it were put to a vote.

“Anyone who is a student of history knows that our history books are littered with those public figures who said that we just can’t end that discrimination based on race, we cant end that discrimination based on age, based on disability, based on gender,” said Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). “Think about their place in history today, and I won’t recount their names. Speaker Boehner: Think about the party you belong to.”

As The Advocate reports, Senator Tammy Baldwin is making it personal and has called out John Boehner to allow a vote on ENDA in the House.  Here are excerpts:

 

Wisconsin senator Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay person to be elected to the U.S. Senate, offered a direct message to the man in charge of the House of Representatives — where she served from 1999 to 2013 — regarding the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. 

Speaking with MSNBC Thursday afternoon just moments before casting her final vote in favor of ENDA, Baldwin delivered a straightforward plea to the Republican speaker, who has said he believes ENDA would lead to "frivolous litigation" and hurt small businesses, and also incorrectly claimed that it was already illegal to fire people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. 

"On the procedural side, I'd say what we said during the shutdown: Just bring it up for a vote," the senator demanded. "Because I feel that the House, if given the opportunity to vote up or down against discrimination in employment, against the LGBT community, that we'd win that vote. We'd win that day. And so that's what I'd say to Speaker Boehner: Just give it an up-or-down vote."

 

Least there be any confusion as to my views of John Boehner, I view the man as a peevish, self-centered ass who is more worried about prostituting himself to the forces of evil among the Christofascists/Tea Party than how he will be viewed by history.  Frankly, the most tawdry whore has more integrity than Boehner.  He is a small selfish man who will not be viewed positively by history.  His descendants will likely find him an embarrassment.