Comments on: Dem senators from Dakotas, Virginias leaning ‘yes’ on ENDA

By: Sloan

Sloan — Tue, 11 May 2010 03:33:31 +0000

Calling Congress at 202-224-3121 and asking to be connected to your senators and representative to encourage support for ENDA really does work.

Senator Jim Webb of Virginia agreed to Co-Sponsor ENDA after much citizen-lobbying — constituents talking with his staffers, etc. Our senators and representatives need to hear from us directly, reminding them there is broad bipartisan support for the bill among everyday Americans. This is perhaps the most important thing we can do to get ENDA passed this year, contacting our Senators and Representatives.

Call Congress at 202-224-3121. Spread the word to all of your pro-equality friends if you want ENDA to pass this year. We can do it.

By: Sloan

Sloan — Tue, 11 May 2010 03:27:41 +0000

If you live in DC, contact 5 or 10 friends who live outside of the district and ask them to call their Senators and Representative at 202-224-3121 in support of ENDA.

By: Hill_gay

Hill_gay — Mon, 10 May 2010 01:43:26 +0000

I live three blocks from the United States Capitol building, but as a DC resident I have nobody there to call. I’ve never lived anywhere other than DC since I was old enough to vote. Who should I email? Who should I call? Eleanor? I wouldn’t need to call her even if she COULD vote. She’s ALWAYS on our side (you rock, Eleanor!). So where to DC residents, a key demographic of this publication, address our frustrations?

By: Sloan

Sloan — Sun, 09 May 2010 06:29:26 +0000

We must advocate/lobby/call now AND later. Members of the House and Senate need to hear from as many pro-ENDA constituents as possible as soon as possible. They need to hear from us in order for the bill to come up for a vote — NOT the other way around. Call Congress at 202-224-3121. Call your Senators and Representative. Identify yourself as a constituent and urge them to co-sponsor, vote for, and pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Spread the word to have friends call. Pass ENDA now.

By: EL

EL — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:09:39 +0000

When I know the damn bill is actually going to be voted on by the House and Senate then I will lobby my legislature. What good is calling them now when they have nothing to vote on? We are so in the dark with the progress of this bill that it’s upsetting!

Sadly, DADT gets more news coverage, and push than ENDA when ENDA benefits alot more people in our community that lifting DADT since only a minority are in the military!

By: EL

EL — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:59:11 +0000

The longer the vote on ENDA is delayed the slimer its prospects to pass. We face the strong probability that more conservatives opposed to ENDA will win seats in November, making it even tougher to get enough votes to pass the bill and get it to Obama to sign. I am really frustrated with the Democrats squandering so much time in voting on this measure with excuses like healthcare legislation has to be first. There is always an excuse and there is never a right time. If Dems hadn’t waited so long to bring this to a vote then incumbents wouldn’t have to worry so much about voting in favor of the bill due to the November elections!

That said, with the GOP in power you don’t even get a chance to vote on a pro-gay bill. The stalwall every step of the way. They disgust me with their hypocrisy of asking for a “fair” up and down vote on conservative appointments to the court yet won’t let a pro-gay bill get a fair vote when they can hold it up.

I’m still really concerned with the gender identity provision in this bill. Several legislators and anti-gay groups have been stirring hysteria against gender identity as a reason not to vote in favor of the bill and I don’t feel enough education or progress has been made by transexuals to defuse that. Gays and Lesbians have decades of progress in that area over trangenders and to expect people to just shelve their prejudices on trangenders that easily maybe unrealistic. I hope we don’t lose simply because trangenders make the difference.

By: Sloan

Sloan — Sat, 01 May 2010 04:32:55 +0000

What we ALL need to do is call our U.S. Senators and members of the House of Representatives at 202-224-3121, identify ourselves as their constituents from their districts/states, and urge them to co-sponsor AND pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). 3 phone calls (one for each of our two senators, and one for our member of the House). Then we all need to get 10 pro-equality friends to do the same. Spread the word. Call Congress at 202-224-3121. Pass ENDA.

By: Jillian Weiss

Jillian Weiss — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:45:03 +0000

Awesome reporting, Washington Blade! Keep up the incredible work, Lou Chibbaro! This is exactly the kind of information our community needs to know.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:08:49 +0000

This is really too much. I am sick of the Dems in Congress putting off votes on pro-LGBT legislation like ENDA, and damn right we want a vote on the bill even if it fails, because then we will know who stands with us and who opposes equality for gay & lesbian Americans. I suspect the Democratic leadership doesn’t want to hold a vote because it will reveal the Homophobes within the Democratic Party, who more often than not vote with the Republicans against the LGBT community’s interests. In short, they are afraid the LGBT community will stop contributing to the Democratic Committees who routinely give our money to homophobic Democrats, most of them Blue Dogs, who vote against us most of the time. We need to spell it out for the Dems, that they must give us a vote on the bills if they want our support, because failure to bring the bills up for a vote is just as worthless as doing nothing at all. If the Dems continue to do nothing they can count on me and my partner to cut them off entirely, no money, no volunteer work, and no votes.