Massachusetts transgender activists lobby Congress for inclusive ENDA
By: Tynan Power
TRT Reporter & Columnist
On April 15th, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) conducted its Lobby Day 2008. At the lobby day, activists gathered from around the country to talk to Congress members about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and to urge support for a version of ENDA that includes gender identity. I joined several other Massachusetts transgender activists in DC for the event.
During the lobby training, we learned why the House of Representatives passed a version of ENDA that doesn’t include gender identity, instead of the inclusive ENDA most LGBT advocacy group’s support. Congressional leaders said it was not clear the inclusive bill would pass.
Mara Keisling, the executive director of NCTE, believes that was an over-simplification.
“There was never any question that [gender-inclusive] ENDA would pass,” Keisling said at the training. According to Keisling, the bill’s sponsors feared opponents would try a complicated maneuver to block it by targeting the gender identity language. She likened the preemptive removal of gender identity to “gnawing off your leg—in case you go into the woods and get stuck in a bear trap.”
The limited version of ENDA places members of Congress in a no-win position: oppose it and appear to condone discrimination, or support it and come under fire from both conservatives and transgender allies within—and beyond—the LGBT community.
During the lobby event, I spoke with staff members in the offices of Senator Kennedy (D-MA) and Representative Richard Neal (D-MA, 2nd District). They were well-acquainted with the need to enact ENDA and receptive to gender-inclusion. Senator Kennedy’s counsel promised to take our concerns back to him—and Representative Neal’s chief of staff assured me of the same.
Senator Kennedy is expected to submit a version of the limited ENDA to the Senate, which has raised concerns. Yet after hearing speakers from NCTE and other organizations, as well as talking with Senator Kennedy’s staff, it seems clear that no one believes any version of ENDA will be signed into law by the current president. Whatever happens this year, all eyes will be on next year’s Congress—and our next president.
By: Tynan Power
TRT Reporter & Columnist
On April 15th, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) conducted its Lobby Day 2008. At the lobby day, activists gathered from around the country to talk to Congress members about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and to urge support for a version of ENDA that includes gender identity. I joined several other Massachusetts transgender activists in DC for the event.
During the lobby training, we learned why the House of Representatives passed a version of ENDA that doesn’t include gender identity, instead of the inclusive ENDA most LGBT advocacy group’s support. Congressional leaders said it was not clear the inclusive bill would pass.
Mara Keisling, the executive director of NCTE, believes that was an over-simplification.
“There was never any question that [gender-inclusive] ENDA would pass,” Keisling said at the training. According to Keisling, the bill’s sponsors feared opponents would try a complicated maneuver to block it by targeting the gender identity language. She likened the preemptive removal of gender identity to “gnawing off your leg—in case you go into the woods and get stuck in a bear trap.”
The limited version of ENDA places members of Congress in a no-win position: oppose it and appear to condone discrimination, or support it and come under fire from both conservatives and transgender allies within—and beyond—the LGBT community.
During the lobby event, I spoke with staff members in the offices of Senator Kennedy (D-MA) and Representative Richard Neal (D-MA, 2nd District). They were well-acquainted with the need to enact ENDA and receptive to gender-inclusion. Senator Kennedy’s counsel promised to take our concerns back to him—and Representative Neal’s chief of staff assured me of the same.
Senator Kennedy is expected to submit a version of the limited ENDA to the Senate, which has raised concerns. Yet after hearing speakers from NCTE and other organizations, as well as talking with Senator Kennedy’s staff, it seems clear that no one believes any version of ENDA will be signed into law by the current president. Whatever happens this year, all eyes will be on next year’s Congress—and our next president.
