Well, what's changed?
(This is another public entry, so feel free to link others to this post.)When I wake up tomorrow, I'll do so with the knowledge that the United States House of Representatives passed a bill purporting to protect me, but not thousands and thousands of other people, from discrimination based on employment. The sun will still rise; the sky will still be blue; the grass will still be green. What will have changed?
Not much.
The bill likely won't pass the Senate and, in the event that it does, certainly won't become law.
So what's changed?
What's changed is that HRC, the Human Rights Campaign, will have completely broken its promise and its policy.
In 1974, Congresswoman Bella Abzug introduced sweeping legislation that would protect the lesbian, gay, and bisexual population from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodation. In 1994, after the horrible law that is "Don't Ask, Don't Tell(, Don't Pursue)" became law, Congress introduced a sexual orientation bill that protected against discrimination in employment only. For 10 years, it went nowhere. In 2005, ENDA wasn't introduced. Why? Because HRC became the last major LGBT organization to support an inclusive ENDA. During the 2005-06 Congress, many people spent many hours drafting language that would allow a religious exemption, include information about dress codes, cover jobs with changing areas, etc. I've had the pleasure of working with a great many of these people. In the current Congress, the 110th, HR 2015 was introduced. It was the product of everyone's hard work.
"But wait," you may say, "Gays and lesbians have been around for years. We've been fighting for this for decades! Why should we risk losing it to add
them now? They haven't been fighting with us! They don't deserve it!!"
Ahh, remember Stonewall? As a newly out person in the late '90's, I was told stories of Stonewall. Dozens of queers, remembering Judy Garland and honoring her in her passing, stood up to the police who were raiding the Stonewall Bar in New York City. Throwing their high heel shoes, we were told, the gay men kept the police at bay for three days.
Now it's my turn--"But wait," I reply now, "You said those men were wearing high heels! That's not how men act!"
Exactly.
For centuries, not all men have been acting "like men." Not all women have been acting "like women." Joan of Arc, anyone? Dennis Rodman in a dress?
Our nation has only been around for a couple hundred years. Nondiscrimination laws, on the federal level, have only been around for a few decades.
Let's recognize where we've been, but not use that to blind where we're going.
The thing is, a non-inclusive ENDA is simply NOT a good law. Simply because we've been trying to get it passed--unsuccessfully--for a decade, does not magically make it good law.
The real story is that, within the last few years, our movement, and the more than 350 organizations who represent us, ranging from small local groups to large national groups, have finally recognized this and have refused to settle for anything less than protections for our whole community.
HR 2015, the "inclusive ENDA," is inclusive but incomplete. What Congresswoman Abzug introduced was legislation that protected people not just in the area of employment, but in housing and public accommodations. To those arguing for incremental change, I counter that an inclusive ENDA IS incremental change. It does not cover housing. It does not cover public accommodations.
What the House has done, with HRC's blessing, is to pass an incremental, incomplete, non-inclusive, bill with no chance of becoming law. I see no reason to celebrate. I see a hollow victory that does not change anything.
Tomorrow, I will wake up. The sun will still rise. The sky will still be blue. The grass will still be green. And I will still be fighting for equality. I will still be fighting for complete, inclusive, and meaningful legislation. I will still be fighting for change, for my brothers and sisters, and for myself. A month ago, I asked if you would stand with me. Now, I ask, when the sun rises in the morning, will you fight with me?
Michael Lee Spivak
7 November 2007
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