Congressional Transgender Employment Discrimination Hearings

Last fall the Employment Nondiscrimination Act was introduced into congress. The purpose of the act was to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from discrimination in employment. Or that was at least the original spirit. Along the way, as so often happens in politics, someone got thrown under the bus.

In an effort to make the bill more palatable, transgender people were eliminated from the protections of the act. In a huge controversy in the LGBT community, the Human Rights Campaign, a group who’s mission is to work for equal rights for LGBT people, signed off on the elimination of transgendered people from the bill.

Last week, the issue of employment protection for trans people was brought before congress in its own right. I’m proud to say that my congressional representative, Tammy Baldwin, was a leading figure in the hearings.

Former HRC board member (who resigned in protest of the ENDA debacle), Donna Rose has posted audio files of the hearings, including Baldwin’s remarks.

There is currently no federal protection against an employer firing (or not hiring) someone because they “don’t like the look of them.” A person can be fired (or not hired) for not fitting into some artificially created, random male/female mold, even if they excel at their job. It’s about time that changed. Hopefully these hearings are a start.

Image credit: Donna Rose