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)

House and Senate Dems Introduce DOMA Repeal Bills

Image by Jerry Nadler via FlickrWhere were these ass-hats last year when they could have actually accomplished something? This just in from the Too Little, Too Late Department, via the Washington Blade:

House and Senate lawmakers on Wednesday pledged to lift the Defense of Marriage Act from the books upon the introduction of legislation that would repeal the anti-gay law that bars federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

In the House, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced the legislation, known as the Respect for Marriage Act, along with 108 co-sponsors. Among the supporters are the four openly gay members of Congress: Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and David Cicilline (D-R.I.).

On the same day, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), among the 14 senators who voted against DOMA in 1996, introduced companion legislation in the Senate. Among the 18 co-sponsors of the Senate bill are Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

Feinstein’s introduction of the bill in the Senate marks the first time that DOMA repeal legislation has been put forward in the upper chamber of Congress since the law’s passage 15 years ago.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Nadler denounced DOMA for treating married same-sex couples as “complete strangers” under federal law.

“This defies common sense and harms thousands of married couples who are denied federal responsibilities and rights, including access to programs like Social Security, that other couples can count on when getting married,” Nadler said.

Baldwin said those who have been fighting DOMA since it became law have always known fairness and justice were on their side.

“Repealing DOMA is important symbolically and substantively,” Baldwin said. “Now that we have repealed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ the Defense of Marriage Act remains the only example of overt discrimination against gays and lesbians written into our federal statutes.”