Legislative Priorities for the 111th Congress of the United States
Employment: ENDA is a federal bill that would address discrimination in the workplace by making it illegal to fire, refuse to hire or refuse to promote employees simply based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It would reinforce the principle that employment decisions should be based upon a person’s qualifications and job performance.
Hate Crimes: The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act / Matthew Shepard Act would grant the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated crimes of violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.
Education: The Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2007 was introduced in the 110th Congress by Representative Linda Sanchez (California district) in July of 2007 and had 79 co-sponsors as of September 12, 2008. The act would amend the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to include bullying and harassment prevention programs. It would also define bullying and harassment that is based on a student's actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, or any other distinguishing characteristics that may be defined by a State or local educational agency.
Defense: The Military Readiness Enhancement Act would repeal the current ban on military service by openly lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans, commonly referred to as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” It would replace the current law with new provisions prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in the Armed Forces. Current regulations regarding the personal conduct of military members would remain unchanged as long as they are written and enforced in a sexual orientation neutral manner. Persons previously discharged for being gay would be eligible to apply to rejoin the military. The Military Readiness Enhancement Act would not create a right to benefits for same-sex partners or spouses, because under current federal law such benefits would violate the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
Repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would have a strong positive impact on military readiness in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Judiciary: The repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act would stop the government from selectively withholding the 1,300 or so legal protections that only legal civil marriage affords and would remove a discriminatory blemish from federal law.
