Hate-Crimes Bill & ENDA

San Francisco Chronicle: Senate OKs hate-crimes bill protecting gays, lesbians

(09-28) 04:00 PDT Washington — Even as the Senate passed a hate crimes bill sought for a decade by gays and lesbians, House Democratic leaders decided Thursday to strip transgender people from another long-languishing civil rights bill, generating dismay in the gay community and furious but fruitless lobbying for more time.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and Reps. George Miller, D-Martinez, Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., believe that they lack the votes in the Democrat-controlled House to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act if it includes gender identity along with sexual orientation as a prohibited ground for firing an employee.

Frank and Baldwin are the only openly gay members of Congress.

“People now accept the fact that we just don’t have the votes for the transgender,” Frank said.

My opinion? Passing the hate crimes bill and ENDA will be long-overdue steps in the right direction. If the transgender issue will sink ENDA, take it out. We can address that another time.