Nov 09, 2007  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO J  | COMMENTS     

The House of Representatives Wednesday passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), marking the first time either chamber of Congress has approved a gay employment rights bill since such a measure was first introduced 33 years ago.

The vote was 235 to 184, with 35 Republicans joining 200 Democrats to pass the bill by what Capitol Hill observers called a respectable
margin of 51 votes. Twenty-five Democrats joined 159 Republicans in voting against the bill. Fourteen House members — eight Democrats and six Republicans — did not vote.

A motion introduced by Republican opponents to kill the bill by recommitting it to committee lost by a vote of 222 to 198.

“This is truly an historic day,” said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in remarks on the House floor. “As someone who has looked forward to this day for the 20 years I have served in Congress, it is a joyous occasion.”

The bill calls for making it illegal for an employer to “fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to the compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment of the individual, because of such individual’s actual or perceived sexual orientation.”

The measure exempts the U.S. military, churches and religious institutions, and employers with 15 or fewer workers.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the lead Senate backer of ENDA in past years, issued a statement late Wednesday praising the House vote and saying he would soon introduce ENDA in the Senate. Kennedy didn’t disclose whether his version of the bill would be similar to the House version or whether he would add transgender protections, which House Democrats removed from the bill before bringing it up for a vote this week.

The New York Times reported that some Senate Republicans said ENDA would have a good chance of passing in the Senate “if properly worded.”

If ENDA passes in the Senate, President Bush is expected to veto it. The margin of Wednesday’s vote wasn’t enough to override a presidential veto but many feel having an ENDA that passes both chambers now will make it easier to pass again after Bush leaves office.

While calling the House action an important milestone, Pelosi joined gay Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) in expressing disappointment that the bill did not include protections for transgender workers.

A contentious dispute within gay activist circles over whether to support a gay-only version of ENDA put a damper on what was expected to be a far more celebratory occasion among gay and transgender activists over the bill’s passage this week in the House.

In late September, after saying they determined a trans-inclusive version of the bill could not pass, Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders decided to remove trans protections from the bill.

Frank, ENDA’s chief author, acted quickly by introducing a new, gay-only version of the bill while promising to advance a separate bill protecting transgender workers when more support for such a bill could be obtained.

The removal of the transgender language from the bill prompted about 350 gay and transgender advocacy groups from across the country to submit a joint letter to House members demanding that they oppose any version that did not include trans protections.

Behind the scenes wrangling among House Democrats over how to respond to the transgender question prompted Pelosi to delay a vote on ENDA for more than a month.

The dispute also raised questions about whether a large number of liberal, gay-supportive Democrats might vote against the bill in protest over the transgender issue, providing Republican opponents with the margin they needed to defeat the bill.

When the Clerk of the House tallied the vote Wednesday, it was revealed that only seven gay-supportive Democrats had defected by voting no. They included Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Edolphus Towns, Yvette Clarke, Nydia Velasquez and Anthony Weiner, all Democrats from New York City; Rush Holt (D-N.J.); and Michael Michaud (D-Maine).

During the House debate over ENDA Wednesday, nearly all of the Democrats who spoke in support of the bill also expressed strong support for the nation’s transgender citizens and their right to be protected from employment discrimination.

“We recognize that transgender people, like all people, deserve protections from discrimination,” said Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.).

Baldwin emerged as a champion of the transgender cause among her House colleagues during the ...