By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Oct 18 2007, 8:14 PM |
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The Employment
Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) cleared a pivotal hurdle in committee today after
four gay-supportive Republicans joined the Democratic majority to save the bill
from defeat.
Four pro-gay Democrats,
including presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), voted against the
bill, saying they did so because a provision protecting transgender persons had
been removed.
The bill passed in the
House Committee on Education and Labor by a vote of 27 to 21, with 23 Democrats
and four Republicans voting for the measure, which calls for banning job
discrimination based on sexual orientation, a category that includes gay men,
lesbians and bisexuals. Seventeen Republicans and the four Democrats voted
against the bill.
If the Republicans voting
for the measure had voted the other way, it would have lost by a vote of 23 to
25.
“We have never been able to
pass a gay rights bill with only Democrats,” said gay Rep. Barney Frank
(D-Mass.), one of the lead sponsors of ENDA. “We’ve always known we need some
Republicans.”
The bill is scheduled to go
to the full House for a vote next week.
The Democrats voting
against the bill in committee joined the Democratic majority in voting against
four Republican-proposed amendments that Democrats said were aimed at weakening
or gutting the bill. The amendments lost on a mostly party line vote, with all
27 Democrats voting against them and between 19 and 21 Republicans voting for
them.
The Democrats joining
Kucinich in voting against the overall bill were Reps. Linda Sanchez
(D-Calif.), Yvette Clark (D-N.Y.), and Rush Holt (D-N.J.).
The four Republicans who
voted for the bill were Reps. Michael Castle (R-Del.), Judy Biggert (R-Ill.),
Todd Platts (R-Penn.) and Randy Kuhl (R-N.Y.).
Frank, who is not a member
of the Education and Labor Committee and wasn’t present during the vote, said
the bill is likely to face a close vote on the House floor and called on
supporters to step up lobbying efforts for the measure.
The decision by Kucinich
and his three Democratic colleagues to vote against the sexual orientation-only
version of ENDA in committee comes at a time when a coalition of more than 300
national and state gay and transgender advocacy groups is calling on Congress
to oppose any version of the bill that excludes transgender protection.
Speaker of the House Nancy
Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Democratic leaders decided to advance a sexual
orientation-only version of the bill after determining there were not enough
votes to pass a trans-inclusive bill. Pelosi said most House Democrats prefer
to pass a more limited version of the bill this year.
She and Frank said they
would give top priority to passing a separate bill banning job discrimination
against transgender persons as soon as they determine enough support exists to
pass such a bill.
That game plan changed
earlier this week when Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), the only open lesbian in
Congress, secured permission from Pelosi to introduce an amendment on the House
floor next week to restore transgender protections in ENDA. Baldwin’s amendment
would set the stage for an up or down vote on the transgender issue, something
that Frank and Pelosi initially opposed.
The two, along with other
gay-supportive lawmakers, have said that if a transgender vote loses by a wide
margin, it would make it more difficult to pass a trans-inclusive bill in the
next few years because those who vote against it would be reluctant to change
their votes.
Kucinich told the Blade
after the committee vote today that he would “campaign” for the Baldwin
amendment to restore trans protections to ENDA but he was undecided over
whether to vote for the bill if the Baldwin amendment loses.
“I’ve talked to people in
the transgender community who urged me to vote against the bill, which I did in
committee, but who also said they didn’t want the entire Employment
Non-Discrimination Act to go down once we made our effort in committee,”
Kucinich said.
“If we could beat it in
committee, beat it,” he quoted some activists as saying. “If it gets to the
floor, some people have suggested that maybe we should at least make some
progress for the community by passing it. So I’m weighing that.”
Rep. Robert Andrews
(D-N.J.), who led the committee debate in support of the bill, told the Blade
he was saddened that longtime supporters of gay and transgender rights disagree
over whether to support a final bill if it does not include trans protections.
“A lot of [GLBT] groups in
New Jersey say they don’t want a bill that leaves people out,” Andrews said. “I
will vote, speak and work for the Baldwin amendment.”
But he added that he will
“part company with my friends in New Jersey” who advocate voting against a
sexual-orientation-only version. Andrews said he believes it’s better to
provide protection for some than none.
“I want this to pass,” he
said.
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