Mr. President, every so often in between the crises, in between the rancor and the partisan fighting, we get an opportunity to make some real progress here in the Senate. This week we’re considering the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill to put in place basic workplace protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.
It’s been a big year for equality nationally and in my home state of Delaware. The Delaware General Assembly legalized same-sex marriage earlier this year in May, giving every Delawarean access to the full rights and responsibilities of marriage no matter their orientation.
A month later, Delaware’s General Assembly built on its three year-old law protecting LGBT people from workplace discrimination, adding protections for transgender Delawareans as well. These two laws were about dignity, respect, and basic fairness for our neighbors. Of course, a month later, the United States Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, giving all married couples across our country access to the federal benefits they’re due. This has truly been an historic year for civil rights and for our country. But for all our progress, much remains to be done.
In 29 states, it is still legal to fire someone just because they’re gay, just because they’re lesbian, or just because they’re bisexual. That means more than four million Americans across those states go to work day in and day out having no protection from being fired summarily because of how they live. And for five million, it’s legal to be fired because of their gender identity. I want to thank my colleague from Oregon for his hard work in leading this fight on the floor and for the senator from Iowa for his long advocacy for this bill that should have passed years and years ago.
More than 40 percent of lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans and almost 80 percent of transgender Americans say they’ve been mistreated in the workplace because of who they are – because of who they love. Clearly there is still work for us to do.
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act would provide basic protections against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. It’s a bill that’s built on our nation’s historic civil rights laws, including the Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
This is about basic fairness. The overwhelming majority of Americans, in fact, more than 80 percent, think that it is already against the law to fire someone just because they’re gay. Most Fortune 500 companies already have policies prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in place. Some of Delaware’s biggest employers and companies – DuPont, DOW, Bank of America, T.D. Bank, Christiana Care, and the University of Delaware – have led the way with their own policies to protect the rights of LGBT Delawareans and their employees. There is real momentum behind these protections and it is time for Congress to pass this law.
Protecting Americans from discrimination is part of America’s shared values and it needs to be part of our laws as well. No one here thinks it’s okay to fire someone simply because they’re African American or because they’re a woman or because they’re an older American. It’s not okay to fire someone because they are gay or transgender either. Equality is a fundamental part of our shared American values – to do unto others, to treat people with the respect and dignity with which you want them to treat you.
And majorities in every state support putting these protections in place. Majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents support putting these protections in place. Majorities in every Christian denomination support putting these protections in place and the majority of small business owners surveyed support putting these protections in place. Freedom from discrimination is a fundamental American value that we don’t just share, we cherish. Why not put these protections in place now, today, to ensure that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans will be able to go to work, to earn a living, to provide for themselves and their families without the fear of being fired just because of who they are?
Mr. President, the opportunity that’s in front of every one of us is an important one. Leadership on civil rights in this chamber has traditionally been bipartisan, and this period of partisanship on civil rights is only fairly recent and need not be permanent. In fact, this bill is cosponsored by two of our Republican colleagues: Senator Collins of Maine and Senator Kirk of Illinois. When he came to the floor to speak on ENDA earlier this week, Senator Kirk noted the importance of a senator from his home state of Illinois, being in a position of leadership on this civil rights issue. This really is an historic opportunity, and when the Senate votes on final passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act tomorrow, I hope we all will take advantage of this historic opportunity.