News
10 House members call on Boehner to bring up ENDA
Renewed call for floor vote on LGBT anti-bias as momentum stalls
A group of 10 House members comprised of five Republicans and five Democrats is amping up the pressure on House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to bring to the floor the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
In a Dec. 3 missive, the bipartisan group of lawmakers ā led by gay Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) and bisexual Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) ā call on Boehner to “bring this timely and commonsense legislation to a vote” before the end of the 113th Congress.
“Job discrimination against any American creates an uneven playing field that runs contrary to the basic notion of equality and our economic efficiency,” the lawmakers write. “What matters most is not that we share the exact same beliefs as our co-workers or employees, but that we take pride in our work, respect our co-workers and customers, and get the job done.”
The five Republicans who signed the letter are the five Republican co-sponsors of the bill: Reps. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.), Jon Runyan (R-N.J.) and Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.).
On the other side of the aisle, the five Democrats who signed the letter are Maloney and Sinema as well as gay Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) and Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.).
The legislation already passed the Senate last month in a historic 64-32 bipartisan vote. Ten Republicans voted with the Democratic caucus in approving the bill.
In the push to bring it to a House vote, proponents of the bill, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the White House, have said sufficient votes are present for passage if the legislation comes to the floor.
The lead signers of the letter ā Maloney and Sinema ā had previously incurred the wrath of progressive LGBT leaders for joining the House Republicans in votes over Obamacare that led to the shutdown of the federal government.
In remarks about economy mobility at the Center for American Progress on Wednesday, President Obama encouraged passage of ENDA as he rattled off a series of legislative items he supports.
“Itās time to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act so workers canāt be fired for who they are or who they love,” Obama said.
Despite these efforts, a vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act seems in doubt. Michael Steel, a Boehner spokesperson, said in response to the letter, “The Speaker has been clear on this issue.”
In fact, momentum on the bill seems to have stalled in the weeks following the Senate vote. Although the bill was gaining supporters in the House at the time of the Senate vote and now has 201 sponsors, the latest additions are all Democrats and no additional co-sponsors have been added since Nov. 18.
LGBT workers are apparently caught in a standoff between the White House and Congress as Boehner has consistently said he opposes the legislation and President Obama continues to withhold an executive order barring LGBT workplace discrimination among federal contractors.
Asked by the Washington Blade during his news conference last week whether the growth of co-sponsors demonstrates the need for allowing a vote on the bill, Boehner reiterated he sees no need for ENDA.
“As I said last week, I’m opposed to discrimination in any case, but I don’t believe that we need additional frivolous litigation in the employment area,” Boehner said.
Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Mark Pocan (D-WI), and Sharice Davids (D-KS) reintroduced legislation to increase access to needed services and resources for LGBTQ seniors who live in rural areas this week.
The Elder Pride Act would bolster the capacity and ability of Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) located in rural communities to better serve and support LGBTQ seniors who often require affirming care, services, and supports that are often underfunded and scarce in many parts of the country.
Recent surveys show that between 2.9 million and 3.8 million LGBTQ people live in rural American communities.
āLGBTQ+ elders and older people living with HIV live in every part of this nation, including rural areas. We all deserve to be able to age in our communities with the services and supports we need to remain independent,ā SAGE CEO Michael Adams said in the press release announcing the reintroduction of the legislation. āWe commend Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Mark Pocan (D-WI), and Sharice Davids (D-KS) on reintroducing the Elder Pride Act. And we honor the contributions of our many LGBTQ+ trailblazers whose tireless advocacy allowed us to reintroduce this critical bill. We look forward to working alongside Reps. Bonamici, Pocan, and Davids, and our LGBTQ+ pioneers nationwide to pass this legislation.ā
āLGBTQI+ seniors should be able to access services and care that meets their unique needs, regardless of where they live,āĀ said Bonamici, chair of the Equality Caucusās LGBTQ+ Aging Issues Task Force.āThose who live in rural areas frequently face increased barriers, which Congress can break down. The Elder Pride Act will increase resources for programs and services that will improve the lives of LGBTQI+ elders.ā
āThe Elder Pride Act will improve the overall health and social and economic well-being of LGBTQI+ older adults and seniors living with HIV in rural areas by better equipping senior service providers with resources to address the unique needs of these communities. Iām pleased to introduce this important legislation with my colleagues and co-leaders on the Equality Caucus, Reps. Pocan and Davids,ā Bonamici added.
āRural LGBTQI+ seniors have been lacking access to necessary services and care for too long,āĀ said Pocan, co-chair of the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus.Ā āThe Elder Pride Act creates opportunities for LGBTQ+ seniors in rural communities, benefiting everyone in the region. I look forward to advancing this important legislation.ā
āMany of our LGBTQ+ elders fought tirelessly for equality in a world that refused to accept their identity,āĀ said Davids.Ā āWhile they overcame tremendous odds to give future generations the rights they deserve, our elders, particularly those in rural communities, continue to face discrimination when accessing long-term care and healthcare. I am proud to support the Elder Pride Act because who you are and who you love should never increase your risk for isolation, poverty, and poor health outcomes as you age.ā
The Elder Pride Act complements the Older American Act, which wasĀ updated under Bonamiciās leadership, by establishing a rural grant program designed to fund care and services for LGBTQ seniors. The grant would also support programs that:
ā¢Ā Provide services such as cultural competency training for service providers;
ā¢Ā Develop modes of connection between LGBTQI+ older adults and local service providers and community organizations;
ā¢Ā Expand the use of nondiscrimination policies and community spaces for older adults who are members of the LGBTQI+ community or another protected class; and,
ā¢Ā Disseminate resources on sexual health and aging for senior service providers.
A fact sheet on the legislation can be found here, and the full text can be found here.
Virginia
Youngkin vetoes bill that would have expanded Va. bullying definition
Bisexual state Del. Joshua Cole introduced House Bill 536
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Friday vetoed a bill that would have added sexual orientation, gender identity and expression to the state’s definition of bullying.
Lawmakers earlier this year approved House Bill 536, which bisexual state Del. Joshua Cole (D-Fredericksburg) introduced.
“While I agree with the general purpose of the legislation, regrettably, the General Assembly did not approve my amendments,” said Youngkin in a statement. “Those recommendations would have expanded the definition of bullying to encompass all possible motives.”
“School administrators must work to prevent bullying and support our students’ mental health through a healthy learning environment, but the narrow definition provided in the legislation could be interpreted to exclude groups not included in the Virginia Human Rights Act, such as bullying victims raised with traditional values or those who are in foster care,” added the Republican.
Congress
House ethics complaint filed over GOP staffer’s anti-trans email
Rep. Carol Miller’s chief of staff defended his actions
A federal government employee has filed a complaint to the U.S. House Ethics Committee over an email they received from Matthew Donnellan, chief of staff to Republican U.S. Rep. Carol Miller (W.Va.), which contained combative and anti-trans language.
The Washington Blade has seen the correspondence between the parties, in which the confrontation was apparently kicked off when the congresswomanās top aide received an email that included the senderās preferred pronouns in the signature box, triggering his reply.
Donnellan wrote, “As a father, it is disgusting that anyone would ever tell my son or daughter that something is wrong with them and they should take sterilizing hormones or have surgery to cut off their genitals.”
“The fact that you support that ideology by putting pronouns in your signature is awful,ā he said, adding, āYouāre disgusting and should be ashamed of yourself. Donāt email me or anyone from my office ever again.ā
A senior government official told the Blade in a written statement that the email was not out of character for Donnellan:
āIāve heard from two colleagues several months apart about two separate transphobic emails, using identical language, from Matthew. Unfortunately these emailsāthough inconsistent with the typical collegiality one would expect from a Chief of Staff on the Hillāis likely a reflection of both increased partisanship on the Hill and a rise in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric from the right.
āNot only is this virtual, hate-filled temper tantrum unbecoming of a Chief of Staff, inappropriate, and unprofessional, it also hurts his bossās constituents. DC is built on congressional staff, members of Congress, and executive officials being able to put aside their differences to find unlikely areas of commonality where they can work together.
āEven some of the most progressive members, like [U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Jerry Nadler (N.Y.)] have partnered with some of the most conservative members, like [U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Jim Jordan (Ohio)], respectively, when they can find common ground.
āMatthewās refusal to work with an agency department or office just because a staffer has pronouns in their signature isnāt just hatefulāit means heās cutting off opportunities to deliver results for his bossās constituents, especially in a divided Washington.ā
Donnellan told the Blade by email that his response to the government employee is āa reply I send to anyone who uses pronouns or pushes gender ideology in any way.ā
āNo one is āborn in the wrong bodyā and it’s horrific to tell anyone that they need genital mutilation surgery or sterilizing drugs,ā he said. āPeople who push gender ideology, actively or passively, are awful and should be confronted every single time.ā
āIf the blunt reality of the terrible things that they are pushing is offensive to them then they should strongly reconsider what it this they believe and the harm that they are doing rather than simply trying to conform to liberal luxury beliefs,ā Donnellan said.
Addressing the complaint filed against him, Donnellan said, āI haven’t heard anything from Ethics and doubt that I will, they generally don’t waste their time with sheltered progressives being forced into the real world for the first time.ā
A House Ethics Committee spokesperson declined to comment when asked if they could confirm receipt of the complaint.
Asked whether Miller might object to the way that she and her Congressional office are represented with these confrontational email exchanges, Donnellan said his bossās āmotto is ācut the bullā, and gender ideology is some of the biggest bull there is.ā
On Friday, the congresswomanās son Chris Miller placed third in the Republican primary contest for West Virginiaās gubernatorial race, where the stateās Attorney General Patrick Morrissey secured his partyās nomination in a decisive victory with 33 percent of the vote.
Leading up to the election, trans issues had emerged as a dominant focal point as the GOP candidates squared off against each other, with Millerās campaign attacking Morrissey with allegations that he had profited from āthe trans agendaā and backed a drug company that āhelps turn boys into girlsā when working as a healthcare lobbyist in Washington.
In one ad that was paid for by a super PAC chaired by his father, Miller said the pronouns used by Morrissey are āmoney-grubbing liberal,ā an interesting charge to level at the conservative Republican attorney general of West Virginia (even notwithstanding the fact that those three words are not pronouns but, rather, nouns and verbs.)
Declaring preferred pronouns in workplace email signatures has become commonplace in both the public and private sector, whether for purposes of sending an affirming message to transgender and gender expansive employees and officers or to mitigate the chances that either they or their cisgender counterparts might be unintentionally misgendered.
The Biden-Harris administration has pushed for agencies to adopt the practice along with other measures and policies to advance the rights and wellbeing of trans and gender expansive employees across the federal government.
In a 2021 announcement of the U.S. Department of Agricultureās issuance of updated guidance on the agencyās email signature block, Michael Watts, director of civil rights for the U.S. Forrest Service, noted that āThere are plenty of gender-neutral names out there, or names from other cultures that might not give you enough information to know their gender.ā
While the inclusion of pronouns was not made mandatory at USDA, he urged employees to āstrongly consider taking this small but important step toward supporting inclusiveness in the workplace.ā
āThe use of pronouns in our email signatures and getting into the habit of including pronouns in our introductions doesnāt really cost us anything,ā Watts added, arguing that the move constitutes āa meaningful exchange to others and makes it easier for people to be respectful in how they address each other.ā
āI just think itās the right thing to do,ā he said.
Official guidance published by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which is responsible for administering policies across the U.S. federal civil service, stipulates that agencies should “take steps to provide the option for employees to include the pronouns they use in employee systems and profiles, including email signature blocks, employee directories and employee profiles.”
Some have gone further, such as by adding pronouns to email signatures for all employees, as the U.S. Department of State did in 2023, while others like USDA have established, as official policy, that “employees are encouraged to include their pronouns in the first line of their email signature block (e.g. he/him/his). Signature blocks are a simple and effective way for individuals to communicate their identified pronouns to colleagues, stakeholders, and customers.”
“For example,” the USDA writes, “adding pronouns to signature blocks also has the benefit of indicating to the recipient that you will respect their gender identity and choice of pronouns.”
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