ENDA and Uniting American Families Act to be Introduced today

Image via Advocate.com

Two major pieces of pro-LGBT legislation are slated to be introduced on Capital Hill today. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which bans employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression and the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA), which would allow gays and lesbians which foreign born  spouses to sponsor them for citizenship. The Advocate reports:

A group of Democratic representatives will introduce the Uniting American Families Act, which would allow gay and lesbian Americans to sponsor their foreign partner or spouse to become U.S. citizens. New York representative Jerrold Nadler, who announced the move Wednesday, said passage of this legislation was overdue, and without it, many couples and families are torn apart. Among the sponsors are two of the four openly gay members of the House, Wisconsin 's Tammy Baldwin and Colorado's Jared Polis.

Vermont senator Patrick Leahy will introduce the companion bill in the Senate.Also being reintroduced Thursday is the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, by Republican senator Mark Kirk of Illinois and Oregon senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat. The bill would prohibit job discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.

Each bill has been introduced in previous sessions of Congress.

Don't hold your breath on passage of either of these two, as LGBT Equality has become a tool for the Democrats to show how the Republicans are going back on the promises to focus on the economy instead of social issues.

We get it! The GOP doesn't like us and doesn't want us to have equal rights, but at least they're honest about it.

Related articles

• ENDA Redux: Why Bother? (bilerico.com)
• Catholics for Equality Applauds the Reintroduction of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (queeringthechurch.com)
• ENDA Reintroduced in House with 92 Fewer Co-Sponsors (towleroad.com)