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| Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced a federal hate crimes bill with Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and 137 co-sponsors last week. Photo by Lauren Victoria Burke/AP) |
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Top 10 gay bills in Congress
Five bills, denoted below with an asterisk, have been re-introduced so far this year and others — including the Employment Non-Discrimination Act — are expected to be re-introduced in the coming weeks and months.
Employment Non-Discrimination Act: Calls for banning private sector employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
*Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act: of 2007: Calls for giving the federal government authority to prosecute hate crimes based on a victim’s sexual orientation, gender identity, gender or disability. [Introduced in House March 20]
*Military Readiness Enhancement Act: Calls for repealing the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy so that gay male, lesbian and bisexual troops would be allowed to serve openly. [Introduced in House Feb. 28]
Uniting American Families Act: Calls for amending the U.S. Immigration & Nationality Act to allow foreign nationals who are same-sex domestic partners of U.S. citizens to apply for the same immigration rights offered to foreign nationals who legally marry U.S. citizens. Similar to the existing law’s application to heterosexuals, the bill calls for prosecution of same-sex couples who fraudulently form a partnership to enable a foreigner to obtain immigration rights.
*Domestic Partner Health Benefits Equity Act: Calls for amending the Internal Revenue Code to end taxation of health insurance benefits for domestic partners. Under the current IRS Code, legally married employees do not pay taxes on their employers’ contribution to their health insurance benefits that cover their spouses and dependent children. But gay and lesbian employees must pay taxes on similar benefits as if they were ordinary income. [Scheduled for introduction in House March 29]
Domestic Partners Benefits & Obligations Act: Calls for providing health insurance and other benefits to same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners of federal government employees. Under current law, these benefits are only available to legally married spouses of federal employees. The bill sets various requirements to define a domestic partnership, including an affidavit that the partners live together, are not relatives, are over 18 and are not married.
Clarification of Federal Employment Protections Act: Declares that, “federal employees are protected from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation” and “[repudiates] any assertion to the contrary.” Gay-supportive members of the House of Representatives introduced the bill to overrule a controversial decision by U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch not to enforce a longstanding federal employment policy banning sexual orientation discrimination against federal workers.
Family Medical Leave Inclusion Act: Calls for amending the Family & Medical Leave Act of 1993 to allow government and private sector employees to take leave to care for a domestic partner who has a serious health condition. The bill also would allow medical leave for the care of a same-sex married partner or the parent-in-law, adult child, sibling or grandparent of a same-sex partner who has a serious health condition.
*Responsible Education About Life Act: Calls for creating a $206 million federal grant program to award funds to states for comprehensive sexuality education that is not linked to advocacy of abstinence-only-until-marriage. Supporters say the bill is needed because existing sexuality education programs funded by the federal government are linked to abstinence-only policies. [Introduced in House and Senate on March 22]
*Early Treatment for HIV Act: Calls for allowing low-income, childless adults with HIV to become eligible for Medicaid coverage before they develop full-blown AIDS. Under current law, people who meet the income requirements for Medicaid are ineligible for the federal health program if they have HIV but are not “disabled” by having AIDS. [Introduced in Senate March 13] |
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HOME > NEWS > NATIONAL NEWS
By: LOU CHIBBARO J COMMENTS
 
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All 10 had been introduced in past years but died in committee under the previous, Republican-controlled Congress that ended last December.
A number of leading gay advocacy groups, including the Task Force and the Human Rights Campaign, have said they were hopeful that some of the bills would pass this year or next year under the new, Democratic-controlled Congress.
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, is not among the five gay-related measures introduced so far this year, but gay advocacy groups say they expect gay-supportive members of Congress to introduce that bill in both bodies shortly after the congressional recess for the Easter and Passover holidays.
Pryce, Shays seek
ENDA sponsors
Reps. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) and Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), considered influential GOP moderates, joined gay Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) this week in issuing a “Dear colleague” letter inviting all House members to sign on as co-sponsors to ENDA.
“This legislation extends federal employment discrimination protections that are currently provided based on race, religion, gender, national origin, age and disability, to sexual orientation and gender identity,” the four House members said in their letter.
“In 33 states, it is legal to fire someone otherwise qualified, simply because of his or her sexual orientation; the same is true in 42 states based on gender identity. ENDA is a common-sense remedy for this unfair situation,” the letter says.
In the past, opposition to federal hate crimes legislation has come from the right and left, with some civil liberties activists, including gay rights and anti-death penalty advocate Bill Dobbs, calling such legislation an infringement of free speech. Dobbs, an attorney, has joined conservative gay writer and blogger Andrew Sullivan in calling hate crimes legislation a threat to gays because it sets a precedent for prosecuting people for their beliefs, even if those beliefs are homophobic.
Most gay rights advocates dispute this rationale, saying hate crimes have been used against gays and transgender persons, almost as a form of terrorism, by targeting them for murder or serious injury based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Opposition from social conservatives, including fundamentalist Christian groups, is expected to have greater impact on Congress. Capitol Hill observers say groups like the Colorado-based Focus on the Family, Family Research Foundation and the Traditional Values Coalitio
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