 Which Democratic leadershould we hold accountable next for workplace protections for LGBT people? |
Dear friends-
Congress is leaving town at the end of July to go back to their home districts and campaign for re-election. Unfortunately, just this week, the Washington Post reported that the Democratic leadership has no plans to make good on their promises of taking up ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) when they return in September.
Sadly, we’re not surprised.
Our so-called “friends” in Congress who are stumping for re-election, speaking at our Pride events and addressing our organizational galas have promised passage of ENDA month after month, and year after year. Why are we allowing our “friends” to collect awards and accolades while breaking their promises?
It may not be nice and it certainly won’t get us invited to any fancy Washington cocktail parties, but we aren’t going down without a fight! To us, the silence is deafening and we want you to help us do something about it.
Who do you think we should hold accountable? http://getequal.org/accountable
- Should it be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has promised us since May that a vote will happen by the second week of June? [1]
- Should it be Rep. Barney Frank, who said “we will get this [ENDA] done fairly quickly,” but then called GetEQUAL’s pressuring tactics “immature” and “tacky”? [2]
- Should it be Rep. George Miller, who heads the House Education and Labor Committee and has said via a spokesperson “he intends to get to it [ENDA] very shortly?” [3]
- Should it be Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who said that he will “fight hard for the votes to get it passed,” but who has failed thus far to pressure the last few Senators for their votes? [4]
We’re launching direct actions immediately and want to give you the opportunity to decide who is at the top of your list.
Who do you think we should hold accountable? http://getequal.org/accountable
Get Out! Get Active! GetEQUAL!
The GetEQUAL crew
[1] “Pelosi Talks ENDA, DADT With Advocates” http://www.advocate.com/printArticle.aspx?id=112559
[2] “ENDA Vote Coming Soon” http://www.metroweekly.com/news/?ak=5095 and “One Story, Two Sides” http://www.metroweekly.com/news/?ak=5121
[3] “Shifting Timelines” http://www.metroweekly.com/news/?ak=5156
[4] Harry Reid “wholeheartedly supports” ENDA http://gay.americablog.com/2009/08/harry-reid-wholeheartedly-supports-enda.html
I believe you should pressure Harry Reid. With a tight campaign he is undoubtedly not keen on touching this issue considering how conservative some Nevada voters are. It seems that Pelosi and Frank are behind this and would not impede progress unless they know something we don’t know.
Hit Nancy first. She’s the ringleader and decides what does and doesn’t get voted on. Then go after the committee leadership.
I think quite a bit of the blame goes to our community for this travesty. Here is a link to a video of some people who have no idea what they are doing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuZMlViCA_M
There is no political strategy here, just antics. He clearly tells you what you need to be doing to get the bill passed and its just totally ignored.
I would i also like to point out that all of the people in this video are saying to do is push the bill forward regardless of knowing if their are enough votes for it to pass. You hear clearly at the end of the video one of them saying, “why are you waiting for our rights?” after he says they are waiting to make sure they get the bill through without losing the trans-gender clause. How intelligent is that? That sound was the the sound of a bus running over the Trans-gender community.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Phil Reese, Gaytriot Ameriqueer, SameSexSunday Show, Tommy Simmons, LGBT Progress and others. LGBT Progress said: BREAKING: @GetEqual activists protest on #LasVegas Boulveard, call out #Reid's inaction on #ENDA in #Senate http://bit.ly/aQczJ6 [...]
[...] To read the entire email titled, “Fight Back Against the Broken Promises” and to take part in the survey, go to: http://getequal.org/?p=449. [...]