Fuck you Nancy Pelosi.
Fuck you Barnie Frank.
Fuck you hypocrit bastards at the HRC.
Fuck all who claim "transgendered people haven't done the work".
Instead of pushing a trans-inclusive bill through the house and senate, Frank and Pelosi decided to hedge their bets and sever T from "GLBT", to guarantee passage of a GLB ENDA bill.
A trans-inclusive workplace protection bill would very likely pass. If this pres vetoes the next most likely wouldn't.
Maintaining the status quo is a terrible argument to use against providing equal workplace protections for all Americans. Thank goodness we didn't maintain the status quo with slavery, Jim Crowe, or inadequate punishments for hate crimes.
Transgendered people face special challenges in the workplace. Even highly qualified, well respected and known people are regularly fired for living our lives in a normal, healthy fashion. It is awful to remain in the closet at work - I know this very well. But at least GL people do not have an additional physical challenges to living a semi-normal life. This bill would have prevented people like Susan Stanton from being fired.
Political reality is that a trans-only ENDA bill will absolutely not pass. We are a statistical minority and our unique situations involve more than just saying "hi world I'm queer". It involves changing the way we appear and are addressed, per our treatment for a specific medical issue.
Trans folk have been abandoned and kicked to the curb with severance from ENDA legislation. A few of us are fortunate to have the support of an inclusive employer, but many if not most of us do not have this "luxury". This legislation stood to help transfolk the most, our exclusion from this legislation is just more evidence of transphobia and intolerance.
Many of us have worked tirelessly with HRC and other rainbow organizations to achieve legislation just like ENDA. The very people we've supported unconditionally have stabbed us in the back.