Haven't we learned anything from the failure of the ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) in Congress last year? Didn't we see how the delection of protections for gender identity didn't move the bill forward and still caused great and ongoing division between GLBT advocates?
Well, there's some folks down in Florida that apparently were not paying attention. This from the Express Gay News:
Gay political organizations are clashing over the best way to pass GLBT-friendly anti-discrimination bills through the Florida Legislature. The head butting is taking on strategic tones similar to those that emerged last year in the fight over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in the U.S. Congress.
Gay rights organizations are taking different stances on whether to support a two-pronged effort that sends separate anti-discrimination bills through the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate. If passed, House Bill 47 sponsored by Kelly Skidmore (D-Boca Raton) would ban employment and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation as well as gender identity and gender expression. Senate Bill 572, introduced by Ted Deutch (D-Delray Beach), bans discrimination based on sexual orientation only. Both bills are expected to go before the Florida Legislature during the spring session, which begins March 4.
There is little expectation that either bill will be successful in the conservative-dominated legislature. Last year, a similar bill that only included sexual orientation protections was not even read. Groups such as Equality Florida and the Palm Beach Human Rights Council have been active in seeking political support for the Skidmore bill. Equality Florida, however, a statewide GLBT political organization, has been lobbying legislators not to support the non-inclusive Senate bill.
“Our position is that we will not support a bill that leaves a portion of our community behind,” said Stratton Pollitzer, deputy director of Equality Florida. “We believe in a fully inclusive bill.”
I learned my lesson after supporting the deletion of gender identity protection from ENDA. GLBT advocacy needs to protect ALL people under that umbrella.
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It's worse than you think. There's a lot of Transphobia amongst GLBs, just as there is significant and vocal Homophobia amongst TGs.
ReplyDeleteI left - with regrets - a Yahoo support group for Transsexual people because it had degenerated into a gay-bashing group. They even said that the GLB mainstream would cut out T's from ENDA, can you believe that?
OK, so they were right there, but there is no way I could tolerate the virulent hatred they had for "the gay lifestyle" etc, all the usual guff. Pity, they had some very useful medical information, data I really needed.
My point? GLBT only works if T's are included in fact, not in name. This is not the case with the HRC, and with many groups. Worse, many GLBs would actually prefer T's to be not just excluded from "their" group, but to keep their pariah status in society generally too. They don't just not support T rights, they actively work against them, sometimes covertly, but sometimes overtly too.
"Oh what fools these mortals be".
LOL, oh that's odd to read. Especially, cuz I get to be in the middle of the two people going at it. Just stupid.
ReplyDeleteIt's a little kookey, but I think it will work itself out. EQFL, ACLU, NCLR are all working to get a better bill to work with. And Rand has a point, but a weird one. How would dream of a statewide LGBT rights organization working against a LGB bill? So, all and all, I think we'll get it worked out. I hate that Rand like to bring the press into this... but, a measured statement is forthcoming from the group that will add to the conversation...
whatev.
LOL