The Employment Non-Discrimination act, which protects against firing on the basis of sexuality, passed the House. Whoo! As is well known to anyone following this issue, there was a rather divisive fight over whether transgendered individuals would also be covered. Rep. Barney Frank, the measure’s sponsor, ended up excluding them because he didn’t think he could get enough votes were it included. The bill is likely to be vetoed if it gets by the Senate, although it would be a meaningful symbolic victory as if a Dem wins in ’08 he or she would likely sign it.
As for the inclusion of the transgendered, this is one of the issues I tend to stay out of because I think the political calculus is best left to members of the relevant communities. There’s both political and personal considerations here and the two can’t really be seperated. I can evaluate the political circumstances but my grasp of the personal calculus is a lot weaker. If I were in Congress I’d probably have a meeting with my relevant constituents on which stance to take. Be that as it may, the more limited bill ultimately won out and as the winner of that particular debate I’m glad it passed.
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