Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) - National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is making its way through Congress, and the Task Force Action Fund has been working behind the scenes pushing for ENDA for years. The Task Force submitted testimony to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee's hearing on ENDA, on the heels of testimony submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor Sept. 23, 2009.

This latest testimony pointed to findings from the forthcoming, groundbreaking study on transgender discrimination in the U.S. Data from this large-scale, first-of-its-kind survey show that discrimination in employment against transgender people is a nearly universal experience: 97 percent of the respondents reported being mistreated or harassed at work, and nearly half (47 percent) said they had lost their jobs, were denied a promotion, or denied a job as a direct result of being transgender. The Task Force is partnering with the National Center for Transgender Equality on the survey.

Executive Director Rea Carey had this to say Nov. 5:

"We are on the heels of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act being signed into law. Without understating the importance of this monumental victory, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community needs ENDA, and we need it now. The path that too often ends in victimization begins with bias and discrimination in the workplace. ENDA must be a top priority as we press forward in the movement for equality.” Read the full statement here. Read complete article - Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) - National Gay and Lesbian Task Force