Federal law shields a wide array of groups from employment discrimination, but members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community have received no such protection. In the flurry of news that has been coming out of Congress over the past several months, a landmark piece of legislation has attracted little attention until recently.
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is proposed legislation that would finally extend the same protections that apply to race, gender, disability, age, religion and national origin to sexual orientation and identity. On Nov. 7, the Senate voted 64-32 to approve the bill. Every Senate Democrat who was present voted for approval. They were joined by 10 Republican senators, including two who had opposed the measure in the past — Orrin Hatch of Utah and John McCain of Arizona. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, where it faces greater Republican opposition.
Fortunately for our state’s workers, New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD) already protects employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Employment discrimination lawyers are already able to seek justice for LGBT workers in court. Passage of ENDA, however, would open up federal remedies in New Jersey and would provide protections in states that do not ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.