Mon. November 4, 2013
Washington, D.C. -
President Barack Obama on Sunday called on Congress to approve the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).
ENDA seeks to ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill cleared a Senate committee with the help of three Republicans in July and is expected to reach the full Senate on Monday.
With Democrats united in favor of the bill, passage in the Senate hinges on Republican support.
In an op-ed published in The Huffington Post, Obama said that it was "wrong" and "offensive" that LGBT people could lose their jobs "not because of anything they've done, but simply because of who they are."
"And it needs to stop, because in the United States of America, who you are and who you love should never be a fireable offense."
"That's why Congress needs to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, also known as ENDA, which would provide strong federal protections against discrimination, making it explicitly illegal to fire someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This bill has strong bipartisan support and the support of a vast majority of Americans. It ought to be the law of the land."
Obama concluded: "In America of all places, people should be judged on the merits: on the contributions they make in their workplaces and communities, and on what Martin Luther King Jr. called 'the content of their character.'"
(Related: Heritage Foundation opposes ENDA because being gay, trans is choice.)
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