Barney Frank Unlikely to Support Trans-Inclusive ENDA
Representative Barney Frank had a busy week last week ‘“ what with listening to the auto executives begging for a hand out. That didn’t stop him from delivering an address to the Victory Fund and the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute on Saturday December 6th at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. Although no press was allowed at the event, several gay bloggers, including myself, were in attendance to listen to Representative Frank’s speech.
Frank spent a good deal of time talking about the many advances our community has made, Proposition 8 notwithstanding. He expressed confidence that the new Congress and the new Administration will press for a fully inclusive hate crimes bill. But when the topic gravitated towards the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Representative Frank made it very clear that he would not be pushing for gender identity to be covered under the bill.
‘œI think we can be idealists, but we still need to be pragmatic,’ Frank said. He claimed, ‘œThere is still a lot of ignorance about transgender in society.’ Taken together, these two statements give Frank a lot of wiggle room to weasel out of pressing for transgender inclusion when a new version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is introduced in the next Congress.
I don’t think any of us in the room were surprised by Representative Frank’s speech. But I would think that after he has had many opportunities to make amends for throwing the transgender members of our community under the bus last year, only to see ENDA fail in the end anyway, perhaps Barney Frank would have approached this group of bloggers in a more contrite fashion.
The fact of the matter is that transgender people are 8-10 times more likely to be unemployed than the general population. And while many people are facing the threat of layoffs, if anyone needs an Employment Non-Discrimination Act in the current economy, it’s the transgender members of our community.
Shame on you, Mr. Frank, for refusing to budge on this issue! You made a point in your speech that we are facing the strongest Democratic Congress since the New Deal. And in January we will have a president who is fully committed to representing the entire LGBT community. If you aren’t willing to represent transgender folks at a time of such Democratic strength in Washington, perhaps you should admit that you will never be willing to do it. And if you’re not willing to support transgender people, you should not call yourself a leader of this community.
I hope that our readers will take the time to send a letter to Representative Frank urging him to reconsider his position on this issue. You can find his full contact information on his website. His mailing address is:
Congressman Barney Frank
2252 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
I would also hope that our readers would send a letter to President-Elect Obama to remind him about the promises he made to our community during the election. Let’s hold him accountable for those promises, and let’s do it now, before the next Employment Non-Discrimination Act is up for a vote. Let’s not wait until the last minute. Let’s be proactive on this issue and get the ball rolling now. You can send him a letter at:
Obama for America
P.O. Box 8102
Chicago, IL 60680
It is interesting that Frank is trying to couch this in terms of pragmatism. Obama has stated on his transition site that in his hiring practices he will not discriminate on the basis of gender identity or expression. This seems like the best time to push for an inclusive ENDA, when we have (or will have soon) a president who is committed to these ideas.
Additionally with “gender identity and expression” ENDA protects relatively few people. Often discrimination in hiring practices (and in other realms) is based off appearance. People who appear too masculine or too feminine are read as gay regardless of whether or not that person is actually gay. A potential employer can claim that they didn’t hire because of appearance and not have any issues.
Wow. Were you at the same speech as me? He actually praised the trans community for stepping up their lobbying.
Hi DCPoster – Frank did give some props, but I thought he was leaving too much ambiguity. He never took a direct stance on ENDA. He just kept talking about “pragmatism” and the education that has to be done. Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t get on board.
Good points, Shannon.
Mr. Frank is completely right in not supporting the addition of Gender Identity protection in ENDA.
There should be protection for gender expression yes, but not for gender identity. These are two completely different, and in fact diametrically opposed, things and should NEVER be lumped together.