FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | November 7, 2007

Limited ENDA Passes House of Representatives

A Statement from NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell

(Washington, D.C., November 7, 2007) — Today, in a vote of 235-184, the United States House of Representatives passed HR 3685, a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that does not include protections based on gender identity.

“The House vote today on an ENDA stripped of protections based on gender identity is a shell of the victory it could have been for our community,” said Kate Kendell, Esq., Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “Today’s passage is bittersweet and as we look ahead we intend to transform the many promises made today on the House floor for a fully inclusive ENDA into reality.”

The first iteration of ENDA that was considered this session would have made it illegal to discriminate in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity, but the bill that passed today will allow transgender workers to suffer discrimination at work with no protection or recourse.

The National Center of Lesbian Rights joined more than 360 organizations in forming United ENDA, a coalition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights groups which lobbied for an inclusive bill. The unprecedented effort will continue to work for inclusive protections.

NCLR's ENDA Action Center

read ENDA: Get the Facts (pdf)

read NCLR's Legal Analysis

United ENDA