GLBT activists push for Fla. non-discrimination bill

Competitive Workforce Bill may be introduced in early 2010

By BOB KECSEMETY, South Florida Blade NOV. 12, 2009

A new bill is working it’s way through the drafting process, called the Competitive Workforce Bill with plans to introduce the bill to the Florida state legislature in the spring of next year—and activists are asking state residents to sign a petition encouraging legislators to support the law.

The Florida Competitive Workforce Bill adds the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity and expression” to Florida’s current civil rights law that bans discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. Creators of the bill are encouraging members and friends of the gay community to sign their online petition showing support.

Many cities, counties and private companies throughout Florida already have policies prohibiting anti-gay and identity-based discrimination but the state of Florida, itself, does not have such restrictions. On the national level, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) has a good chance of passage and may become law before the Florida legislature adjourns next year. Florida gay rights organizers are hoping momentum from previous attempts will ensure Florida’s GLBT community receives protections, whether the national bill passes or not.

“I don’t think many people understand the kind of discrimination that gay men, lesbians, and especially transgendered people face,” said Rand Hoch, President of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council. "The more we make elected officials aware, the more they will understand the need for this bill.

"The good thing about this year is that everyone in the GLBT and allied community is working together -- and working early," said Hoch. "Our unity says a lot"

Along with the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, other organizations that are working to put this bill together are Organizations United Together, Equality Florida, the ACLU of Florida's LGBT Advocacy Project and the Anti-Defamation League.

There are two bills going through the process. The initial bill, the “Competitive Workforce Bill,” adds “sexual orientation” and “gender identity and expression” to current civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. Hoch said this bill is currently in the draft stages awaiting a bill number; it should be assigned within two weeks.

The second bill is in the very early drafting stages and will be more comprehensive. The same coalition of civil rights activist organizations along with the disability community are working on this second bill. This bill brings in a wider range of civil rights issues according to Hoch and information should take several more weeks to be released.

The Competitive Workforce Bill will be presented to the state legislature this upcoming session that begins in early spring.

“We have two committed bill sponsors,” stated Mallory Wells, Public Policy Director for Equality Florida, “Representative Kelly Skidmore from West Palm Beach and Senator Dan Gelber from Miami Beach. ”

The bill must also be placed on the calendar and assigned to committees in both Houses. Last year the bill was assigned to the Senate Commerce Committee, which voted 7 to 1 in favor of the bill. However, according to Hoch, the bill never went into committee in the State House of Representatives because they were busy with the State’s economic issues.

“I think we have a great shot at a hearing this year,” said Wells. “Senator Gelber is the vice chair of the committee that the bill has been referred to and he’s such a strong advocate, and somebody who’s really going to push to have this bill heard.”

To sign the petition, go to www.eqfl.org/competitiveworkforce.

OUT ADVOCACY NETWORK URGES SUPPORT FOR COMPETITIVE WORKFORCE BILL

Proposed law would prohibit discrimination on the basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity TAMPA, FLORIDA - 11/10/2009 - OUT Advocacy Network urges support for the Florida Competitive Workforce Bill, a bill being introduced for the 2010 legislative session. The bill will be introduced in the Florida Senate by Dan Gelber (D-Miami Beach) and in the Florida House of Representatives by Kelly Skidmore (D-Boca Raton). The Competitive Workforce Bill is being collectively supported by a group of organizations, including Organizations United Together (OUT) Advocacy Network, ACLU of Florida, the Anti-Defamation League, Equality Florida, Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus, SAVE Dade and other LGBT and allied organizations throughout the state. Building upon anti-discrimination legislation introduced in the Florida Legislature each year since 2007, the Florida Competitive Workforce Bill would prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination in the workplace, in housing, and in public accommodations by simply adding "sexual orientation" and "gender identity and expression" to Florida's civil rights laws. "In these difficult economic times, it is more important than ever that action be taken to ensure fair competition in the workplace, and that there be an end to discriminatory practices in Florida," said Ted Howard, Executive Director of OUT Advocacy Network. Organizations United Together (OUT) held a training for local organizations and local leaders from throughout South Florida in Fort Lauderdale over the weekend on grassroots organizing and fundraising skills. The training participants recruited dozens of phone bank volunteers and raised thousands of dollars to build a public education effort on the issue of discrimination in Florida. There will be a community strategy session to discuss this legislation on Saturday, December 12, 2009 in downtown Orlando. OUT Advocacy Network is the advocacy arm of Organizations United Together (OUT), a federation of local lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied organizations dedicated to achieving equality and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Floridians. By connecting and empowering local organizations throughout the state to share resources, skills and knowledge, OUT aims to forge statewide strength to achieve common goals. OUT's vision is a Florida free of prejudice and discrimination where all people have full legal, political and social equality.

ENDA Hearings - Recap of Monday's meeting in the US House of Representatives

By 365gay Newswire
11.09.2009 5:43pm EST

A House of Representatives committee held hearings Monday on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which would make it illegal to discriminate against LGBTs in employment and hiring.

“For more than three decades, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans have waged a courageous campaign for their workplace rights. I regret that they had to wait so long for us to respond,” said Rep. George Miller, chair of the House Education and Labor Committee.

A report from The Advocate:

The 3.5-hour hearing was mostly dominated by the testimony of pro-LGBT witnesses and questions from lawmakers who generally favor the bill. Those who opposed the legislation were few and even their arguments mostly lacked the incendiary rhetoric that sometimes accompanies LGBT issues.

“The questions that we heard, even from members who may not be thrilled with ENDA, were actually very technical issues,” said Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. “They were not the arguments that we have heard over the past 20 years that have been degrading, insulting and inhumane. I think that bodes well for the passage of ENDA.”

Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, lead sponsor the bill, kicked off the testimony with his usual flair.

“I find it hard to argue for legislation that bans discrimination,” he said. “It just seems to me so self evident that an American who would like to work and support himself or herself ought to be allowed to do that judged solely on his or her work ethic and talents … Sometimes, we’ve been accused — those of us who are gay and lesbian — of having a radical agenda. As I look at radicalism through history, trying to get a job or trying to join the military have not been the hallmarks of radicalism.”

Those who testified in favor of the bill also included Representative Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin; The Honorable Stuart Ishimaru, chairman of the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission; Professor William Eskridge of Yale Law School; Rabbi David Sapperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism; Brad Sears, executive director of The Williams Institute; and Vandy Beth Glenn, a former Georgia state legislative aide who had been fired due to her gender identity.

The main opposition came from GOP Representative John Kline of Minnesota and Craig Parshall, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Religious Broadcasters Association.

In his opening statement, Kline said the legislation “creates an entirely new protected class that is vaguely defined and often subjective. For instance, the legislation extends protections bas on – quote – ‘perceived’ sexual orientation.” These “vaguely defined” terms would result in an “explosion of litigation,” he added.

PASS ENDA NOW: End Employment Discrimination

In 29 states, it’s still legal to fire someone solely because they’re lesbian, gay, or bisexual; in 38 states it is legal to fire someone solely for being transgender.

States that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. (12 states and D.C.)

States that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. (21 states and D.C.)

Thousands of hardworking lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans have lost their livelihoods simply because of who they are. And millions more go to work every day facing that threat.

It's time to ban workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Tell Congress to Pass ENDA Now!

News from the Human Rights Campaign in DC

• VIDEO: Senate ENDA Press Conference
• Guest Commentary: Ending Employment Discrimination in America
• Senate Press Conference Highlights Victims of Discrimination
• Senate Holds First Hearing on Inclusive ENDA THIS MORNING
  

Overdue hate crimes law a powerful tool

Bill means hate-motivated violence no longer acceptable

written by Andrew L. Rosenkranz,
Florida regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

published in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel -November 8, 2009

After more than a decade of obstruction and delay, President Obama signed a landmark federal hate crimes law called the "Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act." First introduced to Congress in 1997, this comprehensive law will provide federal, state and local law enforcement with powerful new tools to investigate, prosecute and counter hate-motivated violence.

The HCPA is a reflection of the magnitude of hate crimes. These offenses strike fear within victimized groups, polarize entire communities and tear at our nation's core values. Passage of this color-blind law, which protects any person victimized because of their actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability sends the resounding message that hate-motivated violence is unacceptable.

Supported by the most important law enforcement organizations and officials in the country, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, National District Attorneys Association and Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, the HCPA will provide for expanded federal involvement in investigating and prosecuting hate violence, and it will arm local officials with the resources to address these terrible crimes.

Unlike Georgia and South Carolina, which have no hate crimes law protection, Florida already has a strong hate crime statute in place. While it's encouraging that only 182 hate crimes were reported in Florida in 2008, according to a recent report released by the State Attorney General's Office, hate crimes are unfortunately underreported for many reasons. In fact, in 2008, only 72 out of Florida's 413 law enforcement agencies reported hate crimes in their jurisdictions.

Especially in these difficult economic times, HCPA equips Florida law enforcement with another important tool in their arsenal against hate. It will provide smaller law enforcement agencies with the financial resources to investigate violent hate crimes and to train their officers on how to investigate these offenses. And it will give the U.S. Department of Justice the authority to step in when local law enforcement refuses to investigate bias-motivated violence.

The passage of the HCPA is the result of the Anti-Defamation League's pioneering efforts in advocating for hate crimes legislation. Since the first ADL model hate crimes statute was drafted almost 30 years ago, 45 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws based on or similar to the ADL model, and the League will continue to play a central role in preventing and responding to hate crimes.

We commend all of our local and federal legislators who supported passage of HCPA.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/commentary/fl-hate-crimes-act-forum-1108-20091105,0,2887919.story

US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, ENDA Testimony November 5, 2009

STATEMENT OF THOMAS E. PEREZ ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR AND PENSIONS, UNITED STATES SENATE

“EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT: ENSURING OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL AMERICANS”

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Enzi and members of the HELP Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. It is a privilege to represent the Obama Administration and the Department of Justice at this hearing to consider the Employment Non- Discrimination Act (ENDA), and to voice the Administration’s strong support for fully-inclusive legislation that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Civil Rights Division, which I have the great honor to lead, serves as the conscience of the federal government. Our mission is clear: to uphold and protect the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans, particularly some of the most vulnerable among us. We seek to advance this Nation’s long struggle to embrace the principle so eloquently captured by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that persons should be judged based on “content of their character,” and not on their race, color, sex, national origin, religion or any other irrelevant factors. Our civil rights laws – laws enforced by the Civil Rights Division – reflect and uphold this noble principle.

Just last month Congress passed and the President made history when he signed the first federal law that provides civil rights protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals. I applaud you for recognizing the critical need for the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and I assure you the Department of Justice is prepared to fulfill its new duties under that law. Its enactment filled a critical gap in our enforcement abilities.

Today, I come before you because passage of ENDA would provide us with the tool we need to fill another hole in our enforcement authority.

On an issue of basic equality and fundamental fairness for all Americans, we cannot in good conscience stand by and watch unjustifiable discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals occur in the workplace without redress.

We have come too far in our struggle for “equal justice under the law” to remain silent or stoic when our LGBT brothers and sisters are still being mistreated and ostracized for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with their skills or abilities and everything to do with myths, stereotypes, fear of the unknown, and prejudice.

No American should be denied a job or the opportunity to earn promotions, pay raises and other benefits of employment because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity, which have no bearing on work performance. No one should be fired because he or she is gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Period. ENDA would provide much needed and long overdue federal protections for LGBT individuals, who still face widespread discrimination in workplaces across the Nation. For this reason, the passage of ENDA is a top legislative priority for the Obama Administration.

Broadly stated, ENDA would prohibit intentional employment discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, by employers, employment agencies, and labor organizations. Its coverage of intentional discrimination parallels that available for individuals under Title VII, and the principles that underlie this coverage have been well-established for decades. Under ENDA, we would share responsibility for its enforcement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Our role would be to challenge prohibited discrimination by state and local government employers.

The Civil Rights Division and other federal civil rights agencies regularly receive letters and inquiries from individuals all over the country complaining of sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in employment. This ongoing discrimination and abuse takes many forms, ranging from cruel instances of harassment and exclusion to explicit denials of employment or career-enhancing assignments because of the individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
It is painfully disappointing to have to tell these working men and women that,in the United States of America in 2009, they may well be without redress because our federal employment anti-discrimination laws either exclude them or fail clearly to protect them.

Many letters sadly describe the same kind of hostility, bigotry and even hatred that other groups faced for much of our history, and which Congress responded to by passing the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. That Act prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

At the time the bill was debated, many of the same arguments that we hear today about ENDA – that it would open the floodgates to litigation, it would overburden employers and afford special rights to certain groups – were vociferously offered by the bill’s opponents.

No one would seriously contend that the parade of horribles predicted at the time ever became reality, and the 1964 Act, which, like ENDA, was introduced over multiple Congresses before it finally passed, has become a rock-solid foundation for our laws ensuring equality of opportunity in the workplace.

Throughout the decades that followed passage of the 1964 Act, we as a nation have recognized a need to attend to unfinished business in the fight for justice in the workplace.

Accordingly, Congress has expanded the scope of employment protections on several occasions, passing the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, and the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. The Obama Administration believes that ENDA must be the next step, and that this Act will be a worthy addition to its venerable predecessors.

It is estimated that there are more than one million LGBT individuals working in state and local governments and just under seven million LGBT individuals employed in the private sector.

A large body of evidence demonstrates that employment discrimination against LGBT individuals remains a significant problem. The Williams Institute, a national research center on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy at the UCLA School of Law, conducted a year-long study of employment discrimination against LGBT individuals.

The study reviewed the numerous ways in which discrimination has been documented – in judicial opinions; in surveys of LGBT employees, state and local government officials; and in extensive evidence presented to Congress over the past fifteen years during which ENDA has been considered.

The study concluded that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is widespread and persistent in terms of quantity, geography and occupations. The study focused primarily on discrimination against LGBT employees of state and local governments, but also reviewed broader surveys that indicate that the problem is equally widespread in the private sector.

To combat the widespread employment discrimination against LGBT individuals, some states have passed laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

However, 29 states still provide no protections for lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals and 38 states provide no protection for transgender workers. State laws therefore leave large numbers of LGBT individuals without recourse for workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act and other bedrock civil rights laws recognize that protecting valued members of our workforce from discrimination should not be left to a patchwork of state and local laws that leaves large gaps in coverage. Discrimination in my home state of Maryland is just as wrong as discrimination in Montana.

As with those laws, federal legislation prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity will help eradicate workplace discrimination that should be neither tolerated nor condoned.

To underscore the need for a federal statute, I would like to review the current scope of the law. 21 states – including Connecticut, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Maryland – prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Another 12 states – including Iowa, New Mexico, Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, Washington, Rhode Island, and Vermont – as well as the District of Columbia, prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

A number of local jurisdictions contain similar protections in their local laws. For example, in my home state of Maryland, Baltimore City and Montgomery County have expanded the protections available under state law by banning employment discrimination against transgendered individuals.

In states where no remedies exist, LGBT employees have no opportunity to combat egregious workplace discrimination and harassment. The recent report of the Williams Institute documents a distressing number of such allegations. For example:

New Study Offers First Demographic Picture of Same-sex Spouses

The Williams Institute

University of California College of Law

The Williams Institute has released a report analyzing new data from the US Census Bureau. This study is the first to examine the differences and similarities among same-sex couples and married different-sex couples in the 2008 American Community Survey (ACS). The report finds that same-sex spouses were reported in every state and are more common in states, such as Massachusetts, that permit marriage for same-sex couples or some form of legal recognition.

Williams Distinguished Scholar and study author Gary J. Gates notes that, "Despite the complicated legal status of same-sex couples in this country, many see themselves as spouses and, demographically, they look very much like married couples." When comparing same-sex spouses to same-sex unmarried couples and to married different-sex couples, the report finds many similarities between same-sex and different-sex spouses. They are similar in terms of age, education, household income, and homeownership rates. The report's findings underscore the significance of the Census Bureau's recent decision to more accurately report the responses of same-sex couples in the United States, whether as spouses or as unmarried partners.

Click here for the press release.

Click here for the full report.