Joe Solmonese is president of the Human Rights Campaign. This article consists of his testimony before Congress on September 5, 2007.

 

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Work is central to all of our lives. Our jobs enable us to support our families, utilize our talents, contribute to our communities, and fulfill our dreams. Like everyone else, GLBT Americans want our success to reflect our skills, motivation, and dedication. But this reasonable goal—to be judged on our merits—is not a reality for many GLBT people. That is because in 31 states, it is legal to fire someone because of their sexual orientation, and in 39 states, it is legal to fire someone because of their gender identity.

Because an employer may legally fire, refuse to hire, or fail to promote an employee based upon sexual orientation or gender identity, GLBT people are at a great disadvantage in the workplace. For instance, recent studies show that sexual orientation has a negative impact on earnings among individuals with similar education and background. A 2007 survey of these studies found that gay men earn from 10 percent to 22 percent less than heterosexual men with the same education, experience, race, occupation, and geographic location.

In many workplaces, gay, lesbian and bisexual people must avoid simple actions that their heterosexual counterparts take for granted—placing a family picture on a desk, describing weekend plans over lunch, commuting to work with a partner, wearing a ring. For a transgender person, the challenge is even greater. A person could have to forego living in her true gender at all, whether on or off of the job, in order to stay employed. It is time for a federal law that would make it illegal to fire a GLBT person just because of who they are. ENDA will bring the value of meritocracy to a community that has had to do without it for too long.

ENDA is modeled after Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the landmark legislation that protects individuals against employment discrimination on the bases of race and color, as well as national origin, sex, and religion. Title VII is a long-standing, respected employment statute with which employers, employees, courts and the American people are very familiar. By following this model, ENDA provides a clear roadmap to employers and employees as to their obligations and available remedies under the law and treats the issue of discrimination against GLBT people in the same way as—not better or worse than—other victims of workplace bias.

Public support for this legislation is strong. Polls demonstrate overwhelming support for the principle of equal job opportunities for lesbian and gay Americans (89 percent in a May 2007 Gallup poll). A recent poll shows six in ten Americans specifically support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. This includes majorities of white (58 percent), African-American (61 percent), and Latino (56 percent) voters, as well as self-described Democrats (70 percent), independents (55 percent), and Republican women (52 percent).

America’s leading companies, recognizing that basic fairness and diversity are good for business, are leading the way. Nearly 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies have non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation. One hundred twenty-five of those companies also cover gender identity—up from only three in 2000. Nearly 50 companies have joined the Business Coalition for Workplace Fairness in support of ENDA, including Bausch & Lomb, Clear Channel Communications, Charles Schwab & Co., Cisco Systems, Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Corning, Gap, General Mills, GlaxoSmithKline, Hewlett-Packard, HSBC-North America, Levi Strauss, Microsoft, Nationwide, NCR, Nike, Replacements Ltd., Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP, and Qualcomm.

The civil rights community also understands that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is an issue of basic fairness. The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a coalition of over 180 civil rights, religious, labor, and women’s rights organizations, has endorsed ENDA. In addition, such well known leaders of the civil rights movement as Coretta Scott King and Rep. John Lewis have spoken out in support of ENDA in the past.

Some of ENDA’s opponents would like to misrepresent it as inconsistent with religious liberties. In fact, many communities of faith also support fairness. Numerous Christian and Jewish organizations and denominations, including the Interfaith Alliance, Union for Reform Judaism, United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church have taken a strong stand against discrimination.

Like other civil rights laws, however, ENDA contains a very broad religious exemption. The act completely exempts houses of worship, parochial and similar religious schools and missions, as well as positions at other religious organizations that involve performing the organization’s religious functions (such as teaching religion), religious governance, or the supervision of individuals engaged in these activities. ENDA allows religious organizations, for all other classes of jobs, to require employees and applicants to conform to a declared set of significant religious tenets, including ones that would bar GLBT people from holding the position. In short, ENDA in no way interferes with a religious entity’s ability to follow its beliefs in making employment decisions.

This is the land of opportunity, and this is the twenty-first century. One’s sexual orientation or gender identity simply must not bar a person from the opportunity to achieve his or her potential, to support her family, or to contribute to his or her community. Civil rights laws have improved job opportunity for millions of Americans, raising standards of living and providing hope of a better future for each successive generation. ENDA will bring the GLBT community, at last, under the protection of federal civil rights law. The time has come to pass it.

Robert H. Knight and Kenneth L. Ervin II respond to Joe Solmonese.