Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has signaled that ending the Defense of Marriage Act(DOMA) is not a top priority for her. While some may be upset over her decision, she claims two other gay rights bills are priority, and plans on passing them before taking up DOMA.
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would end work discrimination based on orientation is up first and has yet to be introduced this session. The other is a federal hate crimes bill, which has been introduced and would expand hate crimes protection to gays on the federal level.
The question as to which is the smarter strategy is still unanswered. Should Pelosi try and pass everything at once while she knows she has the votes, or do little at a time and risk missing an opportunity? Let me know what you think.
– Andy
ENDA is kind of a joke. Sure, it sounds good to prevent workplace discrimination — but what other civil-rights movement has ever focused its efforts on such a piecemeal strategy at securing rights for an embattled minority? Civil rights legislation (including the landmark federal laws passed in the 1960s championed by Martin Luther King Jr., as well as gay-rights protections that most major cities have passed) typically include four key provisions: employment protection, yes, and also protection in housing, credit transactions and public accommodations. That means, for example, that a landlord can’t evict you from your apartment because you’re gay or lesbian, or you can’t be refused service in a bar or restaurant. (And in case you don’t think these sorts of things don’t still happen, check out this story in today’s Chicago Tribune: http://tinyurl.com/ddo4wn )
So the point is: ENDA will not help those Peoria bar patrons who are discriminated against because they’re queer (or someone who’s refused housing for the same reason). We have a president who’s willing to take action on these issues and a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress. We should scrap ENDA and rewrite the legislation to take care of all these basic civil-rights issues simultaneously.
When will we wake up. The Democrats are not in the slightest way interested in helping us. They are interested in getting elected. And for those who think Obama is their friend and is all about gay rights ask yourself:
1. Why is dont ask dont tell still on the books? He can repeal that by exec. order today if he wanted to.
2. Why no move in the congress to get rid of DOMA when Obama as the head of the party and chief executive of the country could get the ball rolling by coming out in favor of scrapping it?
3. Why did Obama snub his nose at gays in California and say not one word in support of voting NO in prop 8?
The answer—-HE DONT NEED YOU NOW—HES IN THE WHITE HOUSE! But dont worry he’ll be back with more empty promises in 2012. Don’t expect anything from him or the Dems in the mean time.
It could possibly be only me, but, though I am a *HUGE* proponent of gay rights, I’d rather have the White House and Congress working on other things–like the millions of unemployed Americans, the thousands upon thousands losing their homes, the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan who we want home safely, government funded health care for citizens who can barely afford cold medicine. Don’t get me wrong; I think civil rights is incredibly important. I’m just saying that I can understand the need to be patient. I have faith in them. And at the end of the day, what would you prefer? McCain/Palin, who’d sooner throw us into concentration camps than give us equal work rights?