I think democrats such as US Congressman Brad Ellsworth will listen to his constituents in Evansville, Vincennes and Terre Haute rather than the Indy-based IE.

IE says they are doing this because they want a more comprehensive civil rights bill. Fine. Let’s begin laying the groundwork for a more comprehensive bill now and maybe we’ll get one in the next five or ten years. But let’s not, in the meantime, cap the knees on an important piece of legislation that lawmakers are prepared to vote on this year!

Bil, how do we know that this bill is close to passage? It seems like HRC and all of these national groups constantly promise that we're at the brink in every fundraising mailer, but we've seen like NO progress on DADT, ENDA, or DOMA. In fact, it almost feels like we're slipping backwards.

The Dallas Principles sound like something we could all get behind.

Housing and public accommodations would be great. But I don't understand why this is being done now, not last month or last year or the last time ENDA was introduced in Congress. I also don't understand why the focus is on "defeat ENDA" rather than "improve ENDA" or "amend ENDA" or "introduce a bill covering the areas ENDA missed". (This isn't like the "trans inclusion" thing, where if we don't include everyone at first the chance to go back and add people later will be lost forever. A housing discrimination bill, say, would potentially be even easier to pass than ENDA.)

There's a lot of people running around right now claiming to oppose half measures, but all I see is people opposing expansions of my civil rights because they'd prefer ideological purity.

The Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance (INTRAA) supports the position Indiana Equality (IE) and Indiana Equality Action (IE Action) are taking on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). INTRAA feels it is clear that ENDA would provide little protection for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Therefore, I voted in favor of stating the case for a national debate about the need for full civil rights protections for citizens who are LGBT. INTRAA’s logic regarding this, generally, follows.

Under ENDA, a person’s employment status might be marginally protected while, when the news traveled, an insurance company could still decide to discriminate against her; a landlord could still kick a person out for simply being someone who lives her life as openly LGB or T; I could be denied the right to visit my spouse in hospital; you could be denied educational opportunity by a school official who decides I am too different for the educational system; a gay man’s parental and spousal rights could be challenged solely due to his gay/transgender status, and on and on.

Actually, in INTRAA’s view, the right to come out in the workplace, without other civil rights protections to help keep the social consequences of such an act under control, makes people who are lesbian, gay, bi or transgender more vulnerable. This we know and it has driven the fight for full civil rights in states across the nation.

Regarding the segregation issue, INTRAA believes that while a recognized group of people in our society has no civil rights protection, by virtue of their membership in that group, those people are being isolated from the larger society in a myriad of ways. That is a form of segregation and creates problems beyond employment rights. For example, I could easily be denied access to certain apartments or housing areas and might have to drive a much greater distance to hold down a job that ENDA would help me keep, after coming out as gay at work. That could make it harder to hold such a job.

Also, if a group that has no civil rights protections under a large swath of the rights other groups take for granted in their lives as US citizens, and is then handed one right, and one right only, it is clear that the group is being actively segregated by the society. Before that decision, it could be argued, the group being isolated and denied all available rights was only a victim of social negligence resulting in the discrimination: that the situation arose accidentally in society (through legal neglect fueled by ignorance and prejudice). After granting a single right to the group, it can only be clear that there is intent to discriminate. And while attempts to limit rights aren’t new, as we know from the anti-gay marriage movement, to help do it to ourselves would be unfortunate, in INTRAA’s view.

As a board member of the Indiana Equality Action coalition, I believe that neither INTRAA nor IE Action (nor IE) is advocating active opposition to ENDA – I personally would suppose ENDA to be slightly better than nothing, since it might have a positive legal effect, over a long period.

However, that doesn’t mean we should ignore the very large civil rights ‘pink elephant’ in the room, even if we have tried to do so for a long time. And we sure shouldn’t keep doing what we’re doing (only supporting ENDA) when it is clear that reaching that goal will be so deficient in restoring our interconnected civil rights, we will essentially have to start over again, anyway.
Relative to civil rights protections passed by the states, it is arguable whether ENDA would make things worse. While states are still free to have a better civil rights law on the books than what the federal statute provides, it could create a situation where state policy makers could argue that there is little need for them to provide full civil rights protections as the “feds” have already addressed our issues. As we know from hard experience, no excuse is too small to justify inaction.

So we have gone from fighting for inclusion, to getting inclusion and now it's just not good enough if it ONLY protects our jobs. Your right, your a rebel, but to bad your not one with enough common sense to fill a salt shaker.

There is a limit to even how long I can put up with pretenders. If you really want to make your point, grab a chain, a padlock, a sign that says "Improve ENDA or forget ENDA" and go chain yourself to the pillars of Congress in DC. Now that might get my attention, but your drum rolls to action isn't going to cut it with anyone, especially if you want us to abandon the best thing that has happened for us in 40 years to help us stand on our own and fight in the future.

Angela - what chance does ENDA stand to pass this year? If not, why not amend it to make it fully inclusive? Let's add just a few words to the full Civil Rights Act (sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.) Seems simple enough to me.

We've been waiting for 30 years for them to "Pass something, anything already." Why not ask for what we really want then?

The current ENDA supporters are not even beginning to talk about the Senate. So we get this through the House, and stall = epic fail. We get Matthew Shepard through the Senate (if Reid is not to pussy to do it) and then maybe through the House with no Rep support.

In the end, we'll be lucky to get ONE initiative this summer. Which is more likely?

I'm betting Matthew Shepard.

Great leaders do not wait for encouragement from the masses to spur them to action. That's what leadership means- you lead. If Obama needs a pat on the head to be bold, that tells you who he really is. Character is a constant, it doesn't fluctuate with poll numbers.

What is the content of Obama's character?

"Excuse me but aren't you a male identified married heterosexual crossdresser who owns their own business?"

I guess that shows where your coming from, but you forgot to change that to Transexual (not that it really makes that much difference for those who are not members of the HBS). But no, I am not a crossdresser and never have been since 3 years old. The fact that I own my own business means very little except when it comes to being able to contribute to our causes with something besides my opinion.

"Polite women don't make history....this bitch is loaded for bear....for ALL of the LGBts."

No comment.

"Angela - what chance does ENDA stand to pass this year? If not, why not amend it to make it fully inclusive? Let's add just a few words to the full Civil Rights Act (sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.) Seems simple enough to me."

Stonewall, I think that the fact that ENDA is going to be reintroduced by Frank this week or next, provides us very little time to do everything that has to be done to get anything passed, let alone change it.

I guess I am having a hard time understanding where all these opinions about the flaws are coming from at the last minute, while this has been aired and disputed over the last 18 months, to say nothing of the 15 years before that.

I think that if you want it changed, then there may be an opportunity when it is in committee and that I can support. I'll support anything to make it better. What I really have a hard time doing is shoving changes down people's throats when the opportunity existed for 18 months to do it and the people who are making the most noise were sitting on their hands. Of course it makes sense to get more, but does it also make sense to do it in such a way that it might endanger the legislation as it exists now? If you let the opposition even sense a problem like this, they will make the most of it at this point.