Re: Cosponsor the Employment Non-Discrimination Act
Dear Representative:
The American Civil Liberties Union urges your cosponsorship of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which will be introduced on July 31. The bill will ensure workplace equality for everyone by protecting gay men and lesbians from discrimination in all aspects of employment, including hiring, firing, promotion, compensation, and most terms of employment. ENDA is consistent with a fifty-year tradition of Congress responding when it finds a lack of fairness in the workplace, and that some Americans are being denied employment based on characteristics such as race, color, religion, gender, national origin, and disability.
Employment discrimination against gay men and lesbians is pervasive. With great frequency, gay men and lesbians lose or are denied jobs, or fail to receive promotions, solely on the basis of their sexual orientation. As an example, Robin Shahar graduated sixth in her class from Emory University Law School in Georgia, was an editor of the law review, and clerked for the Georgia Department of Law, which offered her a permanent position after graduation. Despite those outstanding credentials, the state withdrew a job offer it had extended, after discovering that Ms. Shahar is a lesbian. Because there was no law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation, a federal court decided that she had no valid claim to fight the discrimination against her.
Such employment discrimination harms the national economy and the functioning of the workplace. It forces co-workers to build walls between each other. Studies show that discrimination robs gay men and lesbians of the ability to make equal income with their heterosexual counterparts. While twelve states, the federal civilian workforce, several local governments, and numerous corporations, schools, and universities ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, most people in this country have no protection against such workplace discrimination. Moreover, courts have consistently ruled that sexual orientation is not covered under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
ENDA is modest - it applies only to discrimination in employment, not to housing or public accommodations, and only to employers with 15 or more employees. It does not require that benefits be provided to partners of gay men or lesbians, and it expressly forbids the use of quotas or preferential treatment. It does not apply to the armed forces or to religious organizations or religious schools.
Congress has had the vision and courage to enact laws that ban discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, and disability. We now have the historic opportunity to expand the law a little further to ensure that everyone can enter and succeed in the workplace without regard to sexual orientation. ENDA is a necessary step to end unjust discrimination against gay men and lesbians.
Again, the ACLU urges your cosponsorship of ENDA.
Very truly yours,
Laura W. Murphy
Director
Christopher E. Anders
Legislative Counsel