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HRC vows no ENDA if no trans protection
Dramatic policy shift follows protests, lobbying effort

ADRIAN BRUNE
Friday, August 13, 2004

In a sudden and unexpected decision — made as about 20 transgender rights activists demonstrated outside its headquarters — the Human Rights Campaign’s board of directors voted not to support the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act next year unless it includes protections based on gender identity and expression.

Protesters welcomed the policy shift and lunched with board members after the announcement was made.

But the move marks a dramatic departure from a position affirmed just last year by Winnie Stachelberg, HRC’s political director, who told the Blade in August 2003, “Now is not the time to add gender identity to ENDA.

“I listen to members of Congress and many of them — not all of them, but many — have said adding [transgender protections] will slow passage of this bill down.”

Hill observers have speculated that adding the gender identity and expression protections would alienate some sponsors.

“We have been talking with the HRC throughout the entire process, but we will continue to hear the opinions of all stakeholders,” said Jim Manley, a spokesperson for one of the ENDA’s lead sponsors, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). “Our goal is to get the legislation passed.”

The HRC board and its chief lobbyists said the organization needed to adhere more closely to a recently refined mission statement, which now actively heralds rights for transgendered people.

“We don’t know what is going to happen at the end of the day, even though the board took a real deliberative stance, looking at every prospect from every angle,” said Chris Labonte, HRC’s legislative director. “We have to do the education that discrimination affects the entire community and hope to hold on to the sponsors.”

ENDA would extend existing workplace non-discrimination protections based on race, gender, religion, national origin and disability to include sexual orientation. Since its 1994 introduction in Congress, transgender rights advocates have fought to have protections based on gender identity and expression added to the bill.

But HRC, with its political ear to the ground, had always balked on supporting a change in the bill’s language, cautiously shepherding it through Congress on the advice of its two main sponsors, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Kennedy.

But in the past two years, transgender rights activists pushed HRC harder.

The country’s largest gay rights lobby sat down with trans rights advocates in the summer of 2003 to figure out how to expand the legislation’s umbrella without alienating its sponsors. In the meantime, though, HRC went ahead with its lobbying efforts for passage of ENDA in its original format during the 108th Congress.

For Republicans, ‘it’s a problem’
Last summer, Barney Frank agreed with Stachelberg’s assessment that adding protections based on gender identity and expression would slow down passage of the bill.

“ENDA will not [include gender identity] because there would have been a very significant fall-off, especially among Republicans,” he said at the time. “We had talked about that, … but my sense is that, particularly among Republicans, it’s a problem.”

Frank could not be reached for comment by press time this week.

Transgender rights advocates turned up the heat on HRC this summer. At the forefront of the effort is Mara Keisling, the new executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, formed in early 1993 as a lobbying force for transgender rights legislation.

Keisling had helped successfully lobby the legislature in her home state of Pennsylvania to include gender identity in its hate crimes bill, which former Gov. Mark Schweiker, a Republican, signed into law in 2002. She came to Washington with ENDA on her legislative list.

“I know more than 30 friends who have lost their jobs, lost their careers, lost their homes, lost custody of their children — just because of gender identity and expression,” Keisling said. “They had exemplary records, and even won awards, but once they come out, employers claim these people are horrible employees.”

In June, Keisling and her staff returned to the HRC with new reasoning: ENDA was not going anywhere under a Republican Congress. What would the HRC lose by demanding that a broad gender identity clause be inserted in the bill?

HRC conducted polls and found that 61 percent of registered voters and 85 percent of gay and lesbian voters support workplace protections based on gender identity and expression. Jacques also got directly involved and met with Keisling several times.

Human Rights Campaign Executive Director Cheryl Jacques pointed to polling data that shows 85 percent of gay voters support workplace protections based on gender identity and expression.

“She’s a very careful person. She wanted to get all the data she could and weigh it,” Keisling said. “Experienced legislators don’t tip their hands easily.”

But Jacques eventually agreed with the transgender rights leader’s position and urged the board to finally take some action, according to Fisher. On August 6, several insiders said they expected the HRC board to approve an amended policy on ENDA.

And around noon the following day, HRC issued the following resolution: “The Human Rights Campaign adopts a policy that we will only support ENDA if it is inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.”

To Keisling, the directive symbolized an important step in bringing transgender rights groups into the big tent of gay advocacy. HRC wasn’t the first group to amend its stance — it followed such groups as the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and the Stonewall Democrats.

“Until now, we’ve spent an unconscionable amount of time trying to convince our friends to be our friends, that we’re all playing on the same team,” Keisling said. “Now we can concentrate on making some inroads.”

Activists consider impact on Hill
To the HRC, the amended policy represented its move toward “pragmatism.”

“Passing ENDA without gender identity and expression is like passing a copyright law that covers books and television shows but doesn’t cover digital music or videos,” Jacques wrote in an opinion piece for the Blade (Please see Page 29). “That’s why we’re supporting a modernized and comprehensive bill that gives full protection to all of our community.”

Now the aligned groups must figure out what the shift will mean to ENDA’s future in Congress. HRC acknowledged this week some lingering concern over how the addition of gender identity may delay ENDA’s passage.

Labonte indicated that if past supporters in Congress decide to go it alone without the recommended changes, HRC has considered approaching others, such as Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), to create a revised bill inclusive of protections based on gender identity and expression. Baldwin signaled her support for a transgender-friendly ENDA earlier this week — and her openness to working on the bill.

“Some believe that a new ENDA containing transgender-inclusive language will be more difficult to pass, however, that must not deter us from seeking full civil rights for all,” Baldwin said.

Adrian Brune can be reached at abrune@washblade.com

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