Workplace protections for LGBT Americans are growing increasingly critical now that
same-sex couples can marry in at least 14 states where they
can also be legally fired for being gay or transgender. But this week marked some very positive movement on the issue that might not have made your radar.
First, the new rule prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers was released Wednesday and will go into effect 120 days from Friday, its first publication date in the Federal Register.
Second, transgender activists in particular logged a victory when Miami-Dade County banned discrimination against trans individuals in housing, employment, and public accommodations.
Third, the Republican-controlled House Rules Committee rejected an attempt to add an employment protections measure as an amendment to the Defense authorization bill. That effectively killed the last chance for the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) to pass during the 113th Congress.
The silver lining here is two-fold. For one, six House GOP lawmakers actually urged Boehner to allow a vote on ENDA. That's right, Republicans … in the House … actually pushing a pro-LGBT bill. After ENDA cleared the Senate last year, I wrote a piece noting a political turning point: when gay issues had "officially become a wedge issue" that Democrats on the Hill were now leveraging against Republicans. Now, it appears that some Republicans are also beginning to find political value in championing pro-LGBT policies.
The other positive is that now queer advocates can finally put their energy behind a comprehensive bill that ensures equity for LGBT Americans in employment, education, public accommodations, housing, and credit. That bill does not yet exist but it is in the works.
In truth, ENDA was the remnant of a bygone era when LGBT advocates were still fighting a fierce political headwind and angled toward the only thing they thought they might be able to pass legislatively: employment protections. But forty years into the fight, that still hasn't happened, despite the fact that 90 percent of the nation believes those federal protections already exist. Next year, queer activists can start fresh with a bill or bills that are more fitting to the times.
One final heartening development: The Senate confirmed two of President Obama's nominees to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) this week. The EEOC is where Commissioner Chai Feldblum has been leading what I sometimes call a "back-door revolution" in protecting transgender workers against bias in the workplace. In a critical 2012 ruling, Macy v. Holder, the EEOC applied "sex discrimination" protections from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to a case involving gender bias against a transgender worker, Mia Macy. At present, a gay man named Peter TerVeer is now moving forward with a sexual orientation discrimination claim under Title VII. So where federal lawmakers have failed LGBT workers, the EEOC is starting to pick up the slack. I wrote at length about the advancements here.
Perhaps 2015 is poised to be a banner year for LGBT workplace protections. A girl can dream.