Nov 02, 2007  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO J  | COMMENTS     

House Democratic leaders this week put off a vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act for the second week in a row, raising questions about whether the bill is in jeopardy over a dispute about a proposed transgender amendment.

Democratic leaders were scrambling to reconcile competing concerns by moderate to conservative Democratic House members, who do not want to vote on an amendment to add transgender protections to the bill, and liberal Democrats, who have threatened to vote against ENDA if it does not include trans protections, according to Capitol Hill sources.

“We’re hopeful for floor consideration on ENDA next week,” said Drew Hammill, press secretary for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

But Hammill declined to say why Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders were not ready to make a definitive commitment for an ENDA vote next week or any time this year.

In its current form, the bill calls for banning employment discrimination based on someone’s sexual orientation, which covers gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals. A version of the bill introduced earlier this year included a provision banning job discrimination based on gender identity, which covers transgender persons.

Democratic leaders removed the trans provision in late September after determining that the bill did not have enough votes to pass if it included the provision. The decision angered many gay and transgender activists, who threatened to push for the defeat of a gay-only version of the bill.

The uncertainty over the gay-only version follows reports late last week that the Democratic leadership had decided not to allow gay Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) to introduce an amendment to restore transgender protections to ENDA, reversing an earlier decision to allow the amendment.

The Hill, a daily newspaper that covers Congress, reported on Oct. 25 that first-term Democratic members of the House urged Pelosi not to bring up the Baldwin amendment because it would hurt their re-election efforts next year.

“House Education and Labor panel Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.), whose committee passed ENDA, said he told the freshman lawmakers at their [Oct. 24] breakfast with Pelosi that the amendment did not have the votes to pass and would not be brought to the House floor,” the Hill reported.

“In addition, Miller told the freshman he recognized that the amendment exposed the first-term lawmakers to political attacks from conservatives and liberals alike,” the newspaper reported two sources who attended the breakfast with Pelosi as saying.

Pelosi and Baldwin’s offices would neither confirm nor deny the Hill’s report.

This week, sources familiar with ENDA, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a number of gay-supportive Democratic House members from liberal, urban districts raised strong objections to the decision to scrap the Baldwin amendment. Some of these House members threatened to vote against ENDA if the Baldwin amendment was dropped, the sources said.

The reaction by the liberal Democrats forced Pelosi and her leadership team to reassess whether there would be enough gay-supportive Republicans voting for ENDA to offset any defections by Democrats who might vote against the bill in protest over its lack of transgender protections, the sources said.

House Education & Labor Panel Chair George Miller (D-Calif.), whose committee passed ENDA, reportedly told lawmakers that a trans amendment to ENDA does not have the votes to pass and would not be brought to the floor. (Photo courtesy of www.house.gov)

Unconfirmed reports have surfaced that an agreement was reached between Pelosi and Baldwin that would allow Baldwin to introduce her amendment and then withdraw it following a debate, without a vote on the amendment.

Baldwin’s office did not return calls seeking comment.

Gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the lead sponsor of ENDA, has been among the leading advocates for moving ahead with a gay-only version of the bill, with the intent of passing a separate bill providing transgender protections at a later date. Frank was scheduled to appear at an Equality Maryland fundraiser in Baltimore on Sunday but failed to show. Organizers did not offer an explanation for his absence. Several activists in attendance said there was a plan to walk out when Frank took to the podium in a protest of his support for gay-only ENDA.

The decision to remove the trans provision prompted more than 300 gay and transgender advocacy groups from across the country to call on Congress to oppose any form of ENDA that does not include trans protections.

Four gay-supportive Democrats voted against the gay-only version of the bill in committee, and at ...