Way to Go, Joe!

The Veep gave a rousing speech in favor of gay rights last night, well worth your time to listen to. From the YouTube intro:

Vice President Joe Biden spoke to over 1,000 LGBT rights supporters at the Human Rights Campaign Los Angeles gala on March 22, 2014. Vice President Biden's inspiring remarks in support of global LGBT equality represent the latest step from a White House that has made fairness and dignity for LGBT people one of its top priorities.

Highlight, found at 12:00-14:00 in the clip below:

My grandkids, my children, and their kids are going to be shocked, it shocks the conscience, that this very moment in American history, in some states, an employer can fire you just because of who you are, or who you love. It’s close to barbaric. I mean think about this, no I really mean this. Imagine, imagine, twenty years from now, as Americans look back and say how in the hell could that have ever been allowed? The country’s moved on. The American people have moved on. It’s time for the Congress to move on and pass ENDA. Pass ENDA now! Not tomorrow, now!

If you think about it, it's outrageous we're even debating this subject. I really mean it. It's almost beyond belief that today, in 2014, I could say to you, you're an employee in so many states, and you're fired? Because of who you love? I mean, think about that. It is bizarre. No, no, no, it really is. I don't even think most Americans even know that employers can do that.

Later in his speech, at the 19:30 mark, Biden said:

The single most basic of all human rights is the right to decide who you love. It's the single basic building block, it is. It's the single most important human right that exists. And hate can never be defended because it's a so-called "cultural norm." I've had it up to here with cultural norms. I really mean it.

Pass ENDA Now!

In 29 states, your gay ass can be fired any day of the week just for being gay - and you wouldn't have a leg to stand on in court about that, it's perfectly legal.  Click here for a pdf map of state employment laws.

Congress is set to vote soon on the latest, trans-inclusive version of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act.  According to Joe.My.God., we need 16 more votes in the House and 7 in the Senate to ensure passage.  We also need to show the legislators already on board with the bill that they shouldn't back out when it comes down to the wire.

So do something:  call or email your representatives today, tell 'em how you feel about this.

After all, it's your country too - right, bud?

Dan Choi Arrested at the White House - Again

Lt. Dan Choi, Capt. Jim Pietrangelo, Petty Officer Larry Whitt, Cadet Mara Boyd, Airman Victor Price, and Petty Officer Autumn Sandeen - a transgender woman who regularly blogs on Pam's House Blend - were arrested at the White House today after chaining themselves to the fence.  Newsweek's Human Condition blog has short profiles on the group here.  Choi and Pietrangello, you remember, were already arrested for doing the same thing just last month.  Raw video of today's arrests from CBS:



And in an unprecedented move, White House Police cleared reporters from the area and barred them from covering the story:  this from "the most transparent Administration in history":



The President was heckled during a speech yesterday by protesters demanding an end to DADT, to which the President responded, "I agree"; both this and the White House protest were organized by GetEqual:



An apt quote from Rep. Barney Frank, speaking over the weekend to the Victory Fund about the passage of ENDA:

Here's my radical homosexual agenda:  Let us get married, join the military and hold down a job. Very few radicals in history would have thought much of that.

Lt. Dan Choi Arrested at White House Protest

Catch the video posts at Joe.My.God.

Also:  GetEQUAL activists have staged a sit-in at House Speaker Pelosi's offices in Washington and San Francisco, saying they will not leave till ENDA is passed.  Story and videos at Towleroad.

LGBT Orgs Slam Congress for ENDA Delay

Twenty-two LGBT advocacy organizations have written a joint statement expressing our community's outrage and disappointment that ENDA will not be passed this year by Congress (emphasis mine):

In light of continuing delays in the House of Representatives, we must state clearly and unequivocally: Passing basic job protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people must happen now. At a time when our government is deeply focused on the critical issue of employment, it is inexcusable to delay action on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Each and every job lost to prejudice based on sexual orientation and gender identity needlessly compounds the unemployment challenges facing our nation. We call on Congress for the immediate passage of ENDA.

For decades now, we have called upon Congress to pass legislation to address the basic right of LGBT people to work free from discrimination at our jobs, and now Congress tells us we must wait another year. In 29 states, it remains legal to fire people based on sexual orientation and in 38 states, discrimination based on gender identity remains legal. In failing to take swift action to pass ENDA, our government allows unfettered bigotry to go unchecked, leading to the loss of jobs, fear in the workplace, economic instability and personal hardship, while allowing employers to lose competent experienced workers. ENDA is urgently needed by our communities.

The majority of Americans consistently state their support for employment protections and voters have affirmed similar state and local measures. There is absolutely no reason for Congress to continue to delay this noncontroversial bill or drop LGBT issues to the bottom of their agenda. We will not be denied basic rights any longer. Nothing is more important than protecting people's jobs so ENDA must pass now. Further delays are absolutely unacceptable.

You'd think that in a time of economic crisis and rising unemployment, the people you sent to Congress, as well as to the statehouse, would be concerned about protecting every American who still has a job, wouldn't you? 

How secure is your job?  Lots of folks are living in a dream world about that; I chatted online with a guy from Texas a while back who wasn't concerned about being out at work because he blithely assumed we gays had some state-level protections here in the Lone Star State. 

Wrong.  Check out the employment laws map (pdf) from HRC here and find out how things stand where you live.

If keeping a job is important to you, let your elected reps at both the state and federal levels know how you feel about this issue here.

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