The chairman of the Senate committee overseeing one of the last major pieces of LGBT-rights legislation today promised movement on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
During an event at the Center for American Progress, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who is chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said action will be taken on ENDA this year.
“I’ve been on ENDA for years — the Employment Non-Discrimination Act — and as chairman of the HELP committee, I intend to move it this year,” Harkin said. “We’re going to move ENDA this year, so I just want you to know that.” Harkin’s comments come hours before President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress.
Although Obama publicly supports ENDA, the president has faced renewed calls from advocates to sign an executive order that would prohibit federal contractors from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
On Sunday, protestors organized outside the White House urging Obama to sign the executive order, which he promised to do as a candidate for president. Indeed, on Feb. 25, 2008, that Obama filled out a presidential-candidate questionnaire for the Houston GLBT Political Caucus. Answering a number of questions about his positions on LGBT equality, in question No. 6 Obama was asked if he would support a nondiscrimination policy that includes sexual orientation and gender identity for federal contractors. Obama responded “Yes.”
However, Obama backed off that position last April during the presidential campaign, disappointing many advocates who believe signing such an order would help build momentum for ENDA, which remains stalled in Congress after facing decades of Republican opposition. Instead, the White House has argued they would prefer to see passage of federal legislation that would protect all workers and not just federal contractors.
Nevertheless, Obama is reported to once again be considering signing the executive order. The Washington Post reported Sunday that “two people familiar with White House thinking said the president may reverse that decision and issue the order if Congress does not pass broader legislation offering protection for gays in the workplace.”
Asked yesterday if that was the case, White House press secretary Jay Carney reaffirmed that Obama believes “we ought to move forward with congressional comprehensive action on this issue, and we will continue to press Congress to do that.”
Representatives from various organizations have said they hope to see ENDA marked up in the Senate, where Democrats hold the majority, and possibly make it to the floor of the chamber for a vote.
“We are joining with other LGBT advocates to urge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to keep his promise from more than three years ago to bring ENDA to the Senate floor for a long overdue vote,” Freedom to Work President Tico Almeida told Metro Weekly.
While Harkin’s comments today indicate that may happen even without the president’s signing of an executive order, a battle will remain in the Republican-controlled House where ENDA simply does not have the votes to pass.
“It would be wonderful if the President used the State of the Union or another high-profile speech to challenge both chambers of Congress to pass ENDA,” Almedia added. “However, this morning’s great news that Chairman Harkin will move ENDA in the Senate this year does not fix the obstructionism by House Speaker John Boehner.”
Electronics retail giant Best Buy offered to screen donations from its employee resource groups going to LGBTQ organizations or causes after being pressured by a conservative think tank that holds shares in the company.
According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing recently made public, Best Buy engaged in a months-long email exchange with the National Center for Public Policy Research, a self-described "nonpartisan, free-market conservative think tank."Β
In those emails, which began on December 11, 2023, NCPPR sent the company a shareholder proposal asking the retailer to produce -- and distribute at its annual shareholder meeting in June -- a report analyzing how its partnerships with LGBTQ organizations benefit the company's business, according to NBC News.Β
"I love that you think I have more than one home," laughs Wilson Cruz, settling in at his New York apartment for what will ultimately become a wide-ranging, two-hour Zoom interview. "I am a journeyman actor who has been cobbling together a career for 30 years. That's what I am."
Truth is, Wilson Cruz is much more than that. This is the third time Cruz has been featured on a Metro Weekly cover, and he ensures that a conversation with him feels familiar, like time spent with a best friend. Talking with him is also somewhat of a unique event -- spirited, unbridled, utterly free of artifice. He is warm. He is welcoming. He is wise.
Pride flags are officially banned from flying above U.S. embassies.
The provision, part of a larger $1.2 trillion bipartisan spending bill to keep the government funded through September 30, was signedΒ into law by President Biden on March 23.
Under the provision, no government funds may be used to fly or display any flag over any State Department facilities, unless that flag is the United States flag, a state or tribal government flag, an official agency flag, the POW/MIA flag, the Hostage and Wrongful Detainee flag, or -- as in the case of embassies -- the sovereign flag of other countries, reports NBC News.Β
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet itβs crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So wonβt you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each weekβs magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!