ENDA: One Of The Greatest Jobs Bills Never Passed

The Need For ENDA

It’s impossible to gather statistics for something as intangible as the number of people fired for being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, in part because most people who are fired for being LGBTQ aren’t told that’s the reason, and in part because it’s easy to couch something like that in other reasons. But studies show that anti-​LGBTQ discrimination in the workplace is extreme.

Here are just a few statistics:

• 47% of people who are transgender report workplace harassment.
• Only 12 states and Washington, D.C. prohibit employment discrimination based on both gender identity and sexual orientation. So, in 38 states you can be fired for gender identity or gender expression, including for being transgender.
• In 29 states you can be fired for being gay, lesbian or bisexual.
• Gay men earn 10% to 32% less than similarly qualified heterosexual men. (Williams Institute)
• Transgender people report high rates of unemployment and very low earnings. (Williams Institute)

So why has this bill, introduced now nine times, not to mention in another form, to be added into the civil rights act of 1964, never passed?