Since Sammy "The Hammer" Alito is such an obvious liar, LGBT folk can't have employment-discrimination protection

Hobby Lobby Goal

Pat Begley [click to enlarge]

"If a private company can take its own religious beliefs and say you can't have access to certain health care, it's a hop, skip and a jump to an interpretation that a private company could have religious beliefs that LGBT people are not equal or somehow go against their beliefs and therefore fire them."

-- National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) Executive
Director Rea Carey, to the Washington Post (see below)

"[A] coalition led by the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights said in a joint statement that they also would be withdrawing support [for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)]. The bill’s religious exemptions clause is written so broadly that 'ENDA's discriminatory provision, unprecedented in federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, could provide religiously affiliated organizations -- including hospitals, nursing homes and universities -- a blank check to engage in workplace discrimination against LGBT people,' the group said, adding later that if ENDA were to pass Congress, 'the most important federal law for the [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] community in American history would leave too many jobs, and too many LGBT workers, without protection.' "

-- from "Gay rights groups withdraw support of ENDA after Hobby
Lobby decision," on washingtonpost.com's "Post Politics" blog

by Ken

Sammy "The Hammer" Alito lied his putrid guts out to worm his way onto the Supreme Court, and I guess he decided that since it worked then, there isn't any reason for him ever to tell the truth.

Not that anyone should be surprised, but as the fallout from his (in)famous Hobby Lobby ruling falls out, it turns out that just about everything in the ruling was a lie except the part where it says, or implies that if you're a God-fearing far-right-wing Christian corporation that feels your religious liberty is being encroached upon by federal law, just come to the Supreme Court and we'll take care of you, 24/7.

For some reason, ultra-radical right-wing ideologues don't seem to like being thought of as "extreme," in kind of the way that obvious and virulent racists have kittens when they're called racists. This is the only reason I can think of why The Hammer felt obliged to pretend in the Hobby Lobby ruling that it would have only the tiniest sliver of applicability, so slim as to be barely worth discussing.

In the first place, he told us, the opportunity for nonprofit corporations to claim religious exemption from the contraceptive provisions of ACA-mandated insurance coverage would be oh-so-limited, to just a tiny number of "closely held" (and therefore, we were clearly meant to assume, small) companies that could show centuries of deeply held corporate religious convictions. In the second place, this tiny new window of corporate religious exemption would apply only to this narrow issue of contraceptive means thought by this handful of divinely inspired profit-makers to be objectionable for possibly being abortion-producing.

April Fool's! Or July, or whatever kind of fools we are for paying attention to a raging ideologue's transparent lies.

(For the record, there was a less obvious lie that didn't come to the fore until three days later. The Hobby Lobby ruling's invention of this new corporate religious exemption was based on the Court majority's assertion that it could be easily applied, since the Obama administration had already worked out an admirable system for granting legally established religious exemptions for non-profit institutions. On Thursday, however, the Court majority granted injunctive relief to Illinois's Wheaton College, which claimed among other things that those very procedures which the Court had found so admirable on Monday had by Thursday become potentially unacceptable.)

In the first instance, since there were already, what?, a hundred or so corporations lined up with Hobby Lobby in demanding their corporate religious exemption, the notion that its applicability was an out-and-out lie on the face of it -- it seems obvious that this already large group was, and was meant to be, merely the tip of the iceberg. It would be more accurate to say, as I did in the title for my post on the High Court's Wheaton College whopper three days later: "The Supreme Court opens a drive-through window for right-wing zealots with (right-wing Christian) corporate religious objections to the law."

(Of course Justice Sammy didn't specify the part I put in parentheses: that the newly concocted corporate religious exemption applied only to far-right-wing Christians. For that, you have to know how to interpret the winks of the blink-blinkety-blink Court's reigning far-right-wing majority. But as a practical matter, if you're a corporation that has religious convictions of other than the far-right-wing Christian kind and you want to see what the Supreme Court might be willing to do for you, I would suggest that you save yourself the legal fees.)

And as to the second instance, the bald claim that the new corporate religious exemption applies only to this contraception-abortion gray area . . . well, for Pete's sake! Is there anyone so foolish as to have failed to notice that this was asserted with no backup or foundation of any sort? When the High Court begins to dish out future corporate religious exemptions, there's nothing here that they'll even have to overturn -- this is just words, words that don't mean a darned thing.


AS WE LEARN WITH THE CRUMBLING OF ENDA

Lest anyone think I'm being merely theoretical here, we already have the first major reverberation from The Hammer's Hobby Lobby lies. As the Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe reported late this afternoon:

Several major gay rights groups withdrew support Tuesday for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that would bolster gay and transgender rights in the workplace, saying they fear that broad religious exemptions included in the current bill might compel private companies to begin citing objections similar to those that prevailed in a U.S. Supreme Court case last week. . . .

[T]he groups said they can no longer back ENDA as currently written in light of the Supreme Court’s decision last week to strike down a key part of President Obama’s health-care law. The court ruled that family-owned businesses do not have to offer their employees contraceptive coverage that conflicts with the owners’ religious beliefs. . . .

Signs of crumbling support for ENDA came first Tuesday from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, one of several gay rights group that has aggressively pushed Obama to expand gay rights through executive action since the start of his presidency.

Rea Carey, the group's executive director, said in an interview that “If a private company can take its own religious beliefs and say you can't have access to certain health care, it’s a hop, skip and a jump to an interpretation that a private company could have religious beliefs that LGBT people are not equal or somehow go against their beliefs and therefore fire them. We disagree with that trend. The implications of Hobby Lobby are becoming clear."

"We do not take this move lightly," she added. "We've been pushing for this bill for 20 years."

Separately, a coalition led by the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights said in a joint statement that they also would be withdrawing support. The bill’s religious exemptions clause is written so broadly that “ENDA’s discriminatory provision, unprecedented in federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, could provide religiously affiliated organizations – including hospitals, nursing homes and universities – a blank check to engage in workplace discrimination against LGBT people,” the group said, adding later that if ENDA were to pass Congress, “the most important federal law for the [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] community in American history would leave too many jobs, and too many LGBT workers, without protection.”

OK, ENDA WASN'T GOING TO BECOME LAW ANYWAY

The House Republican majority of predators and mental and moral defectives has seen to that. Why, the very idea of the federal government protecting lesbians, gays, transgenders, and bisexuals from employment discrimination, that's just disgusting! As if they were, you know, normal people! Shocking!

At the same time, in fairness to Justice Sammy and his transparent tissue of lies, he was writing, or rather obfuscating, for the longer term, when there might not be a house of Congress controlled by people who should be either in institutions or in cages. So no, I don't think he gets a free pass on this count.

Just to be clear, for all the progress that has been made on the marriage-equality front, an awful lot of LGBT folks have believed strongly, all through that fight, that it was of less practical importance to many LGBT people, especially those outside the more liberal and urbane urban centers, than some kind of enforceable legal protection against anti-LGBT discrimination in employment and housing. I still don't think most Americans understand that in an awful lot of the country people can be denied jobs and/or housing because they're L, G, B, or T. Republican sociopaths, and not a few Democratic ones too, believe that the right to discriminate against LGBT people is sacred, and will give no ground on it till they're forced.

There are, in other words, a lot of Americans who won't hear the pain when NGLTF's Rea Carey says of her group's decision to withdraw support for ENDA: "We do not take this move lightly. We've been pushing for this bill for 20 years."

But then, we wouldn't want the Supreme Court to be complicit in the restriction of korporate krazy kultists' right to inflict their korporate kultist kraziness on non-kultists. After all, corporate religious convictions are corporate religious convictions. Why do we have Supreme Court if not to, by God, protect them?
#

Just Because You Don't Hear Republicans Screaming About Strides Towards LGBT Equality, It Doesn't Mean They Aren't Working To Curtail Them

Shenna Bellows has a record of fighting for equality. Susan Collins has a record of dragging her feet and compromising away basic rights for people

I imagine that immigration activists must stay awake late into the night from time to time wondering what gay activists did that they didn't to get such incredible treatment for their platform. And advocates for economic equality must be ready to commit suicide over the same question. No identity group seems to have made out as well, after 6 years of the Obama presidency, as the LGBT community. Their activists worked hard and worked smart, made the most noise at the right time and raised immense sums of money. It all came together and the latest manifestation of the success of their strategy was Obama, kicking the deranged Republican obstructionists to the curb on behalf of an executive order prohibiting discrimination against gays from anyone doing business with the federal government.

ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which has already passed the Senate with bipartisan support and has been blocked from getting a vote in the House by Boehner, Cantor and McCarthy, the three hateful stooges. Jared Polis' House version of the bill, H.R. 1755, has 205 co-sponsors, including 8 Republicans (and several generally homophobic Blue Dogs). Among the Republicans are 3 of the most electorally vulnerable in the country: Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm (NY-11), Mike Coffman (R-CO), and Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ). Still refusing to sign on: Georgia's gutless wonder John Barrow.

The bill would undoubtably pass if it came to a vote, but Boehner has been lying his ass off, claiming gays are already protected-- which they aren't-- and refusing to allow the Senate bill come up for a vote. Monday, the President announced he was having the White House staff draft an executive order barring discrimination by federal contractors on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity-- something right around 90% of Fortune 500 companies already adhere to. Last night Obama was the guest of honor at the DNC’s annual LGBT Gala in New York.

LGBT activists complain that ENDA has a gargantuan religious exemption that does allow certain companies to continue discriminating against gays and lesbians by claiming their religion mandates it-- including hospitals and universities that are connected to churches and religionous hate groups.

Title VII provides houses of worship and religiously affiliated organizations like universities and hospitals with an exemption from the law’s ban on discrimination on the basis of religion, allowing them to prefer members of their own faith in hiring. The purpose of this exemption is to permit a religious organization to require those who carry out its work to share its faith (and applies even when an employee’s work is not religious). It is not, however, a blank check for these organizations to discriminate for any reason they want, including on the basis of sex.

In fact, there is no religious exemption from Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination. When religious organizations have argued that Title VII’s exemption should allow them to pay women less because of religious teachings about the appropriate roles of men and women, courts have rightly said no.

Yet the religious exemption in ENDA opens the door for religiously affiliated organizations to engage in employment discrimination against LGBT people-- for any reason.

This exemption is so broad that it could leave a transgender doctor at a hospital or a gay food-services worker at a university without protection from workplace discrimination. Given the protections LGBT people are increasingly gaining under Title VII in the courts, it seems absurd that the price for explicit inclusion in federal law should be a religious exemption that creates a lesser standard for sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination.

Progressive Democrat Shenna Bellows, running for the Maine Senate seat held by Susan Collins, announced this week that she supports Obama's new executive order while calling on the White House to reject the religious exemption loophole created by the Senate version of ENDA as a sop to phony-baloney "supporters" of equality like Collins, who back the religious exemption.

"Speaker Boehner's statement tells us everything we need to know about the chances for anti-discrimination bills in a Republican-controlled Congress," Bellows said. "I support the President's order because we need to make progress where we can and when we can. But we also need to see the big picture, and the big picture is that if Mitch McConnell becomes Senate Majority Leader after this year's election, we can say goodbye to anti-discrimination bills even getting a hearing from now on. There's no excuse for equivocating on full equal treatment under the law for all LGBT Americans."

As head of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, Bellows was part of the coalition that won Maine Won't Discriminate non-discrimination protections on the ballot in Maine in 2005.  Maine's non-discrimination laws do not contain a religious exemption. Blue America has endorsed Bellows and you can contribute to her campaign here.

Is The Democratic Party Serious About Fighting For LGBT Equality?

The Democratic Party prides itself on being a big tent so the answer is both yes and no. Mainstream FDR progressives are very serious about equality-- like the Pennsylvania state Senator, DaylinLeach, in the video above. Confused conservatives who, for whatever reason, stumbled into the wrong party are not. When I was growing up, my grandfather, a dedicated Socialist, told me to never trust the Democrats. He pointed out how conservative Democrats-- mostly, but not exclusively, in the South-- were preventing equality under the law for the descendants of the African-Americans they had enslaved and fought a Civil War to keep in bondage. Eventually almost all of those southerners found their way to the Republican Party, which they have since taken over, like a cancer.

Today, no matter how many times you hear Debbie Wasserman Schultz or Steve Israel braying about the big tent party, even they wouldn't dare suggest the tent is big enough for pro-slavery racists. Those people belong in the GOP, not the Democratic Party. So why is the Democratic Party still recruiting virulent homophobes? Steve Israel says its part of the DCCC's "big tent approach" to recruit bigots like Jennifer Garrison. While Nancy Pelosi was working like a dog to figure out how to pass ENDA over John Boehner's opposition, Steny Hoyer and Steve Israel were out raising money for Garrison and tricking other Democratic congressmembers into contributing to her campaign. I even noticed that a gay congressman had donated $1,000 to her campaign at Israel's request. I suspect that Israel never told him any of this:

House Majority Floor Leader Jennifer Garrison of Marietta wants the Equal Housing and Employment Act to wait until after the November 2010 election, according to some of her colleagues, so that she can run for secretary of state without having to answer for her vote on it.

The bill, also known as EHEA or H.R. 176, prohibits discrimination by sexual orientation or gender identity in public and private employment, housing and public accommodations. It passed the State Government Committee 8-5 on June 17 and could be voted on by the entire House at any time.

Twenty-one other states have similar measures, including one passed last week in Delaware. No federal protections exist.

There have been six House sessions since the bill cleared the committee, most consumed by budget matters. Legislators and the governor could not agree on a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1, and the state is running on temporary resolutions until an agreement can be reached.

But the House has voted on other matters in those six sessions, expanding domestic violence laws to include foster parents, changing the licensing of dental assistants and proposing a constitutional amendment to set livestock care standards.

Some EHEA supporters are concerned that delaying the vote will hurt its chances to pass during the present two-year session, requiring it to be reintroduced for the next one in 2011.

The measure’s Democratic sponsor, Dan Stewart of Columbus, is not concerned with the bill’s speed so far, but also sees no benefit in it lingering.

“I don’t want it to come up on a budget vote,” Stewart said. “People won’t be focused on anything but the budget, but if we’re passing other legislation, I want it to move.”

The bill now has between 53 and 61 “Yes” votes in the 99-member House, depending on who is asked. Fifty votes are needed to pass it. The chamber has 53 Democrats and 46 Republicans.

Stewart believes that 8 to 12 Republicans will join 51 Democrats in voting for the bill, when it comes to the House floor.

House Speaker Armond Budish of Beachwood made it clear on Equality Ohio’s lobby day in May that he would move the bill quickly.

His spokesperson, Keary McCarthy, stood by that commitment on June 30.

But Garrison has been quietly pulling in the other direction.

One of the most socially conservative Democrats in the General Assembly, colleagues say Garrison is very influential with Budish.

She is running for secretary of state next year, and will face Franklin County Commissioner Marilyn Brown in the Democratic primary. Brown is backed by current Secretary Jennifer Brunner, who is running for U.S. Senate. The winner will face either Republican State Sen. Jon Husted or former Ashtabula County Treasurer Sandy O’Brien.

Garrison already has a rocky relationship with the LGBT community. She won her House seat by gay-baiting her predecessor, Nancy Hollister, in 2004.

Earlier that year, Hollister was the only Republican to vote against the so-called “defense of marriage act.” It was considered a courageous vote.

Garrison sent out mailings that read, “If you believe marriage is between one man and one woman, there’s something you should know about Nancy Hollister.”

The other side of the card said, “DOMA was enacted precisely to protect Ohioans from having to accept ‘marriages’ or ‘unions’ entered into in other states. Despite the value of DOMA, Nancy Hollister voted against it. Jennifer Garrison believes marriage is between one man and one woman and will fight to protect our values.”

In 2006, as a member of the House Education Committee, Garrison helped to kill an amendment that would have required Ohio schools to protect students from bullying for their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The anti-bullying bill passed without the LGBT protections.

An attorney, Garrison opposed EHEA last year, saying it is wrong to single out classes of people for protection. This is a common talking point that anti-gays use against equality laws, and is legally flawed.

Garrison is now on the DCCC Jumpstart List. She's a Steve Israel kind of recruit. Now watch that Daylin Leach video up top. He's not on the jumpstart list and he hasn't been recruited by Steve Israel and he's not a Steve Israel kind of recruit. In fact, Steny Hoyer, who has already maxed-out to Garrison, has endorsed one of Daylin's conservative opponents. If you'd like to help Daylin bring his message of inclusivity and equality to Congress… well, here's the place.


UPDATE… Kind Of

And, speaking about how racism and homophobia have been banished from respectable circles, a few words on the Richard Cohen column from today's Washington KKK Post by Jamison Foser:

Richard Cohen famously attacked Iraq war skeptics as "fools or frenchmen." He's regularly and enthusiastically endorsed torture. He's repeatedly downplayed sexual misconduct, including referring to the act of getting a 13-year-old drunk and raping her as "seduction." He's said that calling hate crimes "hate crimes" is almost as bad as hate crimes (read: murder) themselves. He justified the profiling of Trayvon Martin because a hoodie is a "uniform we all recognize." He just learned last week at his local movie theater that slavery was not benign. (Though he opposes affirmative action because race "has become supremely irrelevant.") He downplayed the Bush administration's politically-motivated outting of a CIA agent (and he lied about the victims in the process). A recurring theme of his columns is that straight white men can't catch a break because the gays, women, and racial minorities have all the power. He regularly displays open contempt for liberals. And the Washington Post bills him as a liberal columnist.

Given that history, I don't think Cohen's use of "conventional" was inadvertently sympathetic. I think it was sympathetic. But even if it was inadvertent-- even if everything above was inadvertent-- I'd like to think a professional writer would be competent enough at his craft to get through a column without accidentally defending slavery or rape or revulsion at interracial marriage.

  And regardless of his motivation or intent, I'm about 15 years past being sick of one of the nation's two most important newspapers pretending this guy represents my views.

Leadership: Speaker John Boehner, Alas, Will Never Be A Speaker Pat Murphy

It takes more to earn a Blue America endorsement than just the likelihood of voting right. We like to get to know the candidates and try too get behind the rhetoric. We look at past behavior of course but we also try to figure out two intangibles: character and leadership. We don't just look for someone to vote on the key issues that motivate progressives; we look for people with the inclination and ability to lead on those issues, which helps explain why we have been so enthusiastic about Senator Elizabeth Warren, Congressman Alan Grayson and Pennsylvania state Senator Daylin Leach. And it's why itbwas so easy for us to make the decision to back Pat Murphy in the crowded Democratic primary for the open Iowa seat Brice Braley is giving up. We've tried explaining it before-- here and here-- but Pat's guest post on ENDA speaks to our enthusiasm for him better than anything we've come up with. Please read it carefully-- and between the lines if you will-- and consider helping his grassroots campaign here.

Fighting to End Discrimination: Demand Action on ENDA
-by Pat Murphy

It may surprise many that in 2013, in some places in America, you can still be fired from your job simply because of who you are or who you love. But it’s true. And because of dysfunction and backwards thinking in Washington, that injustice may continue.

On Monday, the U.S. Senate overcame a procedural hurdle and set up a crucial vote to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) later this week-- 17 years after it was first introduced. In an era when the two parties agree on nothing, to have both Democrats and Republicans voting yes on ENDA in the Senate should send a message that we all agree it’s time for this injustice to end. But incredibly, Speaker Boehner and the House Republicans vowed to continue the fight against what’s right.

Five years ago, we passed a very similar law in Iowa, and it is time the rest of the country caught up. Believe me, I know the process can be messy, but I offer this look back on how we passed the civil rights expansion in 2007 as proof that our shared faith in the right to equality is a powerful thing, and the fight is worth it.

Back in 1992-- full four years before the first Senate ENDA vote-- I first voted for a bill that would have expanded our civil rights code to include protections for LGBT Iowans in employment, housing and accommodations. Unfortunately we came up 6 votes short, but I vowed that the setback would be overcome and worked continuously to ensure it.

When I became Speaker of the House in 2007, I was determined to make this simple act of fairness a key part of our agenda. Since that first vote nearly 15 years earlier, I went from becoming a dad to a grandfather and I couldn’t stand the thought of my grandkids growing up in a state that allowed discrimination in the workplace, or anywhere else.

My decision to make this legislation a priority wasn’t popular, even with some in my party. But it was the right thing to do.

With 51 votes needed to pass the bill and 53 Democratic votes in our caucus, the vote seems simple, right? But as any Speaker of any House can attest, corralling a majority of Members for any piece of controversial legislation is not easy and our caucus was never accused of being “lock step” for anything.

We believed that only 43 members of the Democratic caucus would vote for the civil rights bill, so I went to work. I personally met with each of the ten Democrats who were undecided or leaning against, and within a few days, we were up to 50 votes.

Three House Republicans said publicly they would vote for the bill but the Republican leader asked them to “take a walk”– literally walk out of the Capitol at the time of the vote to eliminate their yes vote-- or not vote. This tactic would ensure the Civil Rights bill would have to pass with at least 51 Democratic votes before any Republicans piled on.

With that move, we were still a vote short and the three remaining Democrats made it clear they were immovable. With math clearly not in our favor, the outlook was grim. As evidence by the recent shutdown in Washington that brought our economy to a grinding halt, if it’s determined the votes aren’t there for something, no matter how important, it’s hard to get things done.

It would have been easy to tell our allies we didn’t have the votes, but it wouldn’t have been right. So instead of giving up, we got creative.

I made the decision to use a “Call of the House.” When invoked, if a legislator isn’t present in the chamber, the Iowa State Highway Patrol actually goes out, picks you up, and returns you to the Capitol. Then the House locks the door for the debate and vote. In twenty-four years, I’ve only seen it used three times.

We were deciding the civil rights for our fellow Iowans-- and I think it’s fair that nobody could “take a walk” on that.

On that April day in 2007 I drove up to the Capitol not knowing if I had the votes to pass this bill. I knew that forcing the Republicans’ hands might back-fire, they might all vote no, but I decided it was better to lose by one, than not try at all.

We instituted the “Call of the House”-- over Republican protestations-- and once all legislators were accounted for, the doors were locked, and we voted.

While we cajoled and pushed and pulled and implored as many fellow Iowans-- regardless of party-- to do the right thing, I was still uncertain that it would work. I put our votes at somewhere between 50 and 53.

But as they called off names, and each person was forced to answer to their fellow citizens, what’s good and right about Iowa came through. That day, 59 Iowans joined together to end discrimination in Iowa-- 50 Democrats and 9 Republicans.

A bill that had first been introduced 20 years earlier - that I had voted for fifteen years ago-- was finally going to become the law of the land for 3 million people. Men and women could go to work knowing their government-- and their neighbors-- had their backs. Couples wouldn’t have to worry about being kicked out of an apartment because of their “lifestyle.”

I’m not ashamed to admit my voice started to crack, and the tears traced down my face, as I declared the final tally.

I waved off the press, went to my office and immediately called my wife Teri. We had won a big one, and I knew it meant as much to Teri as it did to me.

Republicans called me a wimp for crying, I proudly answered then, as I would today, “No, I am a Democrat. I care about people. And I wear my heart on my sleeve.”

I’m still proud of what we did that day and proud of all 59 votes. I know had we not taken extreme measures, it may not have happened. Both Democratic and Republican legislators stood on the right side of history, but the story isn’t over. It’s time for Congress to act, and to protect the equality of millions of Americans.

Pass ENDA now.

Can Pelosi Outmaneuver Boehner On ENDA?

Thursday there were 3 roll calls in the Senate on ending employment discrimination against gays and lesbians. Short version: it passed and now faces a hostile reception from House Republican leadership. The slightly longer version:

The first bill up was an amendment by Pennsylvania conservative Pat Toomey allowing employers to use "religion" as an excuse to discriminate. It was defeated 55-43, two reflexively backward and homophobic Democrats-- Pryor (AR) and Donnelly (IN)-- joining most of the Republicans. The only Republicans who voted no on the amendment were Susan Collins (ME), Mark Kirk (IL), and Lisa Murkowski (AK).

Then came the cloture vote to break the Republican Party filibuster. This needed 50 and passed 64-34 with every Democrat voting to end the filibuster, as well as 10 non-Confederate Republicans: Kelly Ayotte (NH), Susan Collins (ME), Jeff Flake (AZ), Orrin Hatch (UT), Dean Heller (NV), Mark Kirk (IL), John McCain (AZ), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Rob Portman (OH), and Pat Toomey (PA).

The historic bill then passed 64-32. All the Democrats voted for passage. And the same 10 non-Confederate Republicans joined them. The Senate's two most hypocritical closet cases, Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) voted NO. Another switch-hitter, John Barrasso (R-WY), walked out of the chamber to avoid voting. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions (R-AL) also refused to vote. The bigots have been doing badly in recent years.

Now for the problem… the bill has to pass the House and both Boehner and Cantor are adamantly opposed... and extremely homophobic. They are threatening to refuse a vote. Right after the Senate passed the bill, President Obama issued a statement meant to pressure them:

For more than two centuries, the story of our nation has been the story of more citizens realizing the rights and freedoms that are our birthright as Americans. Today, a bipartisan majority in the Senate took another important step in this journey by passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would help end the injustice of our fellow Americans being denied a job or fired just because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Just as no one in the United States can lose their job simply because of their race, gender, religion or a disability, no one should ever lose their job simply because of who they are or who they love.

Today’s victory is a tribute to all those who fought for this progress ever since a similar bill was introduced after the Stonewall riots more than three decades ago. In particular, I thank Majority Leader Reid, Chairman Harkin, Senators Merkley and Collins for their leadership, and Senator Kirk for speaking so eloquently in support of this legislation. Now it’s up to the House of Representatives. This bill has the overwhelming support of the American people, including a majority of Republican voters, as well as many corporations, small businesses and faith communities. They recognize that our country will be more just and more prosperous when we harness the God-given talents of every individual.

One party in one house of Congress should not stand in the way of millions of Americans who want to go to work each day and simply be judged by the job they do. Now is the time to end this kind of discrimination in the workplace, not enable it. I urge the House Republican leadership to bring this bill to the floor for a vote and send it to my desk so I can sign it into law. On that day, our nation will take another historic step toward fulfilling the founding ideals that define us as Americans.

Bush's former press secretary, Ari Fleischer agrees with President Obama and the overwhelming majority of Americans.

Allowing people to be successful in their workplaces is an essential piece of individual opportunity and liberty. Working for a living is one of America’s freedoms. It’s a virtue to be encouraged-- and supporting it is important to the future of the Republican Party. In an era in which the government often punishes hard work and individual success, this bill encourages it.

At its core, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is about individual liberty. All employees should be treated the same and be judged on their job performance. No one should receive special treatment, and no one should be fired because of their sexual orientation.

…Politically, it’s about time for the GOP to do the right thing while acting in a more inclusive and welcoming manner. Republicans need to expand our appeal and earn the support of millennials. The younger generation of Americans views gay rights differently than our parents’ generation, and as was noted in an assessment of the Republican Party I co-authored following the 2012 elections, issues like this are gateways into whether young people see the GOP as a party worthy of support.

Pelosi and progressives are signaling that if Boehner refuses to allow a vote, they will circulate a discharge petition forcing a vote. It will be interesting to see if the few Democrats who oppose gay equality-- like Mike McIntyre (NC), Dan Lipinski (IL), John Barrow (GA) and Pete Gallego (TX)-- refuse to sign it. And it will be just as interesting to see if Republicans who profess to favor ENDA, like Paul Ryan, for example, are willing to break with their party leadership when it really counts. Today I asked all the Blue America House candidates if they would sign such a discharge petition. They all said they would. To be precise, Paul Ryan's opponent, Rob Zerban said, "Absolutely-- without hesitation or reservation." (Something like Pennsylvania state Senator Daylin Leach's "With an unbounded enthusiasm.")

Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairs Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) released this statement on behalf of their 73 members: 

“We applaud the Senate for voting to protect millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender working Americans from discrimination. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has done the right thing by putting ENDA before the Senate for the first time since 1996. We urge Speaker John Boehner to hold a vote on the bill in the House of Representatives as soon as possible.

“Workplace discrimination has no place in the United States. When 17 percent of LGBT workers and 26 percent of transgender Americans report being fired or not hired for a job due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, there’s a serious problem that Congress needs to address.

“Seventeen states, more than 160 cities and counties, and nearly 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies have sexual orientation and gender identity workplace protections. Harassment and judgment don’t build a successful work environment, and they certainly don’t build stronger communities. Job assessments should be based on results, not who you love.

“The five Republicans who already cosponsor ENDA in the House are on the right side of history. We hope that others will join them. It’s clear the public supports workplace equality. That’s why the House should hold a vote on ENDA as soon as possible. Americans value hard work and equal opportunity. That should be what matters on the job.”

The Washington Post's Greg Sargent didn't seem optimistic that Boehner and Cantor will allow the bill to pass the House. His sources tell him a discharge petition is a non-starter. That however, is up to Nancy Pelosi. If Republicans like Paul Ryan, Mario Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Jeff Denham and David Valadao refuse to sign it, it just shows them up for the hypocrites they are. Meanwhile, it should be remembered, that Steve Israel is actively out recruiting viciously anti-gay politicians to run with DCCC money as Democrats. That should be taken seriously and stopped.

ENDA Passed The Senate But Boehner Wants To Kill It In The House. Can He?

Yesterday we looked at the lead-up to last night's historic Senate vote for ENDA. The anti-gay filibuster was shut down 61-30, every Democrat plus 7 Republicans voting for equality. 30 Republicans-- though not one was willing to go on the record with a speech during the debate-- voted against equality. But all the regular suspects-- bigots like Jefferson Beauregard Sessions (R-AL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), closet case Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rand Paul (R-KY)-- voted against what their own constituents want.

Now comes the hard part. Boehner has already announced he's against it. Many of his caucus, ones in non-Confederate, hate-obsessed districts, say they would vote for it if it gets to the House floor. But Boehner has no intention of letting that happen. Nancy Pelosi says "all options" are on the table to get it passed. And that means: discharge petition. If a majority of Members sign a discharge petition, the bill gets to the House floor for a straight up-or-down majority vote, regardless of what obstruction Boehner and Cantor put up. If Charlie Dent (R-PA), who claims to support the bill, is correct and there are as many as three dozen Republicans for it, Pelosi could get a discharge petition though… IF she can persuade her homophobic Blue Dog members to not queer the deal.

Boehner has cock'n'bull excuse that LGBT equality may put a financial burden on business. Many of America's top business leaders, however, have been very supportive and are urging the GOP to stop obstructing equality. Greg Sargent in yesterday's Washington Post:

[A] handful of House Republicans who happen to agree with the RNC autopsy into what went wrong in 2012, which prescribed that the GOP should project a more tolerant aura on gay rights. One such House Republican is Rep. Charlie Dent, who comes from a moderate Pennsylvania district-- and is one of around five House Republicans to come out for ENDA so far.

“I believe the Speaker should allow a vote on this bill,” Dent told me in an interview today. “I believe that the American public wants to make sure people are not discriminated against, based on race, religion, or sexual orientation.”

Dent, who also broke with the House GOP shutdown strategy, said he thought around three dozen Republicans in the House would support ENDA. He referred back to the previous House vote on a version of ENDA, in 2007, which passed with 35 Republicans in support (it died in the Senate).

“I suspect there would be a similar number now,” Dent said, though he conceded he hadn’t done a head count.

Boehner’s office is justifying his opposition by claiming ENDA “will increase frivolous litigation and cost American jobs.” However, as Sam Stein points out:

Top business leaders have begun pushing for the bill’s passage. And in July 2013, the Government Accountability Office issued a report concluding that in states with LGBT workplace protections, “there were relatively few employment discrimination complaints based on sexual orientation and gender identity filed.”

Dent similarly rejected this concern. “Much of American industry has already moved in this direction,” he said. “They have their own anti-discrimination policies.”

Dent said he had not written off the chances of passage, pointing out that Boehner had not yet said whether he would prevent a committee vote on attaching ENDA as an amendment to another bill, such as a Defense Authorization bill. “I hope he will allow the Rules Committee to consider an amendment on the subject,” Dent said.

But as the New York Times notes this morning, this would require House GOP leaders to risk a conservative revolt. Indeed, this is another issue where conservative opposition is explicitly impeding the GOP from doing what Republicans themselves say is necessary for the party to keep pace with shifting demographics and the evolving culture. The RNC autopsy specifically said the GOP should evolve on gay rights to appear more tolerant to young voters, who view this as a gateway issue.

Dent agreed. “Younger voters would be much more accepting of the Republican Party if we were to adopt legislation of this type,” he said.

The last time ENDA came up in the House, November 7, 2007, it passed 235-184. At the time, Dent was one of 35 Republicans, who crossed the aisle and voted for the bill. Only 10 of those Republicans are still serving in the House, including Paul Ryan (R-WI)-- who says he may back it again this year-- and NRCC Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR).

Ironically, Steve Israel has been prancing around DC all week boasting how he's following "Rahm's Playbook" and recruiting conservative Democrats, many of whom are vehemently anti-Choice and rabidly homophobic, like his prize recruit from OH-06, Jennifer Garrison. Will Democrats like Garrison join Boehner to vote against LGBT equality? Of course they will; they always do. In 2007 fully 25 Democrats voted against ENDA, and of them, most were subsequently defeated… but these 4 bigots are still in Congress and still voting against equality:

• John Barrow (New Dem-GA)
• Dan Lipinski (Blue Dog-IL)
• Mike McIntyre (New Dem-NC)
• Nick Rahall (WV)

Israel made sure other homophobes would slip into the Democratic caucus while the Members who largely pay for its operations, were't paying attention-- another page from the Rahm Playbook. Pete Gallego (New Dem-TX), for example, is a hard, boastful core gay hater-- one of Israel's personal recruits last year.

Meanwhile Israel is refusing to allow the DCCC to get behind almost any progressives who are real fighters for LGBT equality. In a state like Florida, where nearly three-quarters of the voters favor ENDA, an on-the-record bigot like John Mica, would be vulnerable to a well-financed challenge by a progressive. Israel refuses to give the Democratic candidate, Nick Ruiz-- not a millionaire, a college professor-- the time of day. And here's what Ruiz said just before yesterday's ENDA vote:

"Speaker Boehner and his proxy Rep. Mica are on the wrong side of history. Laws that ban discrimination are always castigated by those quickest to discriminate on such a basis. History is littered with stories of GOP opposition to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The GOP was wrong then, and they're even more wrong now, with their opposition today standing as evidence that they've learned nothing about the great American civil rights and social justice movement in this country. The great majority of Americans, myself included, support ENDA and its goals. Speaker Boehner, Rep. Mica and company are simply missing in action when it comes to these vital protections for Americans."

Another Blue America-endorsed candidate, Tom Guild in Oklahoma City, who's challenging James Lankford an ex-minister who seems to be devoted to some form of Christianity that has cut out Jesus' message. Lankford is a dedicated hate-monger and bigot. Tom: “I strongly support ENDA that is currently under consideration in Congress.  Every Oklahoman and American deserves the opportunity to be free from unfair discrimination in the workplace. This is the kind of issue that should bring us together-- arbitrary discrimination in the workplace is wrong and the time is past due to eliminate this injustice.  We need leaders who are listening to fair minded Oklahomans and Americans who are calling for protection against unfair workplace discrimination.”

John Kline (R-MN), another bigoted Republican who opposes equality on principle and has voted against LGBT rights every time he's had the opportunity, has drawn a strong and progressive fighter for equal employment rights, Mike Obermueller, who Israel sabotaged last time he ran against Kline. Yesterday he said "I strongly support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Every American deserves the opportunity to be free from discrimination in the workplace. This is exactly the kind of issue that should bring our legislators together-- this discrimination is wrong and we are long overdue in resolving this injustice. We need leaders that are listening to their constituents calling for protection against discrimination… The passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in the Senate would be a historic step towards eliminating discrimination in our country. Congressman Kline is part of the problem in Washington-- he’s choosing inaction over action and he’s looking past the overwhelming support of the people. We need leaders that can come together to eliminate discrimination and ensure a fair, safe workplace for all Americans."

And we need a DCCC Chairman who recruits candidates with Democratic values like Mike, Tom and Nick, not conservatives and reactionaries like himself and like Jennifer Garrison, widely known in her own state as "the Sarah Palin of Ohio." That's the kind of garbage you're supporting if you give money to the DCCC.

Garrison beat a Republican incumbent in 2004 to win a state house seat from Southeast Ohio, by ATTACKING HER GOP OPPONENT FOR BEING TOO PRO-GAY. Yes, you read that right. From the Gay People's Chronicle: Garrison already has a rocky relationship with the LGBT community. She won her House seat by gay-baiting her predecessor, Nancy Hollister, in 2004.

Earlier that year, Hollister was the only Republican to vote against the so-called “defense of marriage act.” It was considered a courageous vote.

Garrison sent out mailings that read, “If you believe marriage is between one man and one woman, there’s something you should know about Nancy Hollister.”

The other side of the card said, “DOMA was enacted precisely to protect Ohioans from having to accept ‘marriages’ or ‘unions’ entered into in other states. Despite the value of DOMA, Nancy Hollister voted against it. Jennifer Garrison believes marriage is between one man and one woman and will fight to protect our values.”

In 2006, as a member of the House Education Committee, Garrison helped to kill an amendment that would have required Ohio schools to protect students from bullying for their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The anti-bullying bill passed without the LGBT protections.

An attorney, Garrison opposed EHEA last year, saying it is wrong to single out classes of people for protection. This is a common talking point that anti-gays use against equality laws, and is legally flawed.

Think about that the next time Steve Israel or one of his minions comes begging you for money to "help the gays."

ENDA Showdown In The Senate

This hypocritical old queen isn't changing his mind on ENDA

This evening, the Senate will once again take up ENDA, the bill that would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. I say "once again," because the Senate tried to pass this once before-- September 10, 1996. It failed, only 49 senators voting yes, 50 voting no and one, Mark Pryor (D-AR) ducking the vote entirely. It's worth noting that this year, Pryor and every other Democrat has already announced that they are supporting the legislation. But back then the "no" votes included 5 Democrats who were either bigots or too cowardly to do the right thing: Harry Byrd (D-WV), James Exon (D-NE), Wendell Ford (D-KY), Howell Heflin (D-AL) and Sam Nunn (D-GA).

It's also worth noting that back then 8 Republicans also voted for ENDA: Lincoln Chaffee (R-RI), William Cohen (R-ME), Al D'Amato (R-NY), Mark Hatfield (R-OR), Jim Jeffords (R-VT), Alan Simpson (R-WY), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and Arlen Specter (R-PA). None of the Democrats who voted NO and none of the Republicans who voted YES are still in the Senate. However, 8 Republicans who voted NO in 1996 will be voting again tonight. Has God seen fit to make any of them less bigoted with the passage of 17 years?

• Dan Coats (R-IN)
• Thad Cochran (R-MS)
• Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
• Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
• Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
• John McCain (R-AZ)
• Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
• Richard Shelby (R-AL)

Because of zombie GOP obstructionism, the Senate no longer requires 51 votes to pass ENDA. The Republicans-- remake or no remake-- are officially filibustering the bill and Harry Reid needs too cobble together 60 votes to pass it. Orrin Hatch has seen the light on this and supported it in committee this year. He and 3 Republican colleagues have publicly declared that they;'re voting yes. One is Lisa Murkowski, whose father, Frank Murkowski (R-AK) was one of the GOP votes that killed the bill in '96. The other two are Republican co-sponsors are Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mark Kirk (R-IL). One more vote will do the trick and in recent days there have been rumblings both from Bob Portman (R-OH) and John McCain (R-AZ) that they're thinking about helping break the filibuster.

Yesterday, the Washingtion Post asserted that if senators listened to their constituents, they bill would pass-- and pass overwhelmingly.

Nearly all recent opinion polls indicate that a large majority of the American public-- more than 70 percent-- supports efforts to make employment discrimination against gay men and and lesbians illegal. Of course, these national numbers are not what the senators are likely to care about. However, when we use national polls to estimate opinion by state, we find that majorities in all 50 states support ENDA-like legislation (note that in 1996, majorities in only 36 states supported ENDA). Today, public support ranges from a low of 63 percent in Mississippi to a high of 81 percent in Massachusetts.

Intensity of opinion also favors ENDA-- people who “strongly favor” a ban on employment discrimination outnumber those who “strongly oppose” it in every state, usually by 20 percentage points or more.

Aside from Mississippi, the states with the weakest support are Utah, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska-- all even those states all have majorities favoring ENDA. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), John McCain (R-AZ), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Dean Heller (R-NV), Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Chuck Grassely (R-IA) all represent states where public support is huge, over 70% in each state-- and 77% in Ayotte's New Hampshire. The Post expects Reid to break the filibuster and pass the bill, though not with great margins. Rubio, for example, is far too scared of the teabaggers after he strayed off their narrow path over immigration, to do anything that veers from right-wing orthodoxy any time soon. [UPDATE: Dean Heller announced this morning, he's voting for ENDA, bringing the total to the needed 60 votes.]

Of course, even after a victory in the Senate, who thinks Boehner and Cantor will even allow a vote in the House. They'll try to breathe life back into the so-called Hastert Rule and then claim the teabaggers won't allow a vote. Imagine the pickle it would put Republicans in who are still trying to cling to mainstream districts. Voting for discrimination isn't going to hurt hate-mongers and kooks like Paul Broun (GA), Louie Gohmert (TX), Steve Scalise (LA) and Tim Huelskamp (KS) in hopelessly red districts. But NO votes would be another nail in the coffin of incumbents representing districts where you need independent voters to win elections, not just right-wing Republicans. No votes on ENDA could help Democrats end the careers are at least two dozen Republicans if they vote "no," these two dozen (although, one caveat-- Steve Israel refuses to allow the DCCC to engage several of these vulnerable Republican cronies of his). From most vulnerable:

• Gary Miller (R-CA)
• David Valadao (R-CA)
• Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ)
• Mike Coffman (R-CO)
• Rodney Davis (R-IL)
• Tom Latham (R-IA)
• Joe Heck (R-NV)
• Jon Runyan (R-NJ)
• Fred Upton (R-MI)
• Dave Reichert (R-WA)
• Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
• Jeff Denham (R-CA)
• Charlie Dent (R-PA)
• Reid Ribble (R-WI)
• Sean Duffy (R-WI)
• John Kline (R-MN)
• Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm (R-NY)
• Jim Gerlach (R-PA)
• Erik Paulsen (R-MN)
• Patrick Meehan (R-PA)
• Scott Rigell (R-VA)
• Mike Rogers (R-MI)
• Buck McKeon (R-CA)
• Paul Ryan (R-WI)

All of these Republicans are in tough spots. Many are life-long on-the-record bigots. Others are worried that they could be vulnerable to Tea Party primaries if they vote yes. Of course, by not allowing a vote, Boehner and Cantor also save the hides of the tiny handful of homophobic Democrats still left in Congress: John Barrow (New Dem-GA), Mike McIntyre (New Dem-NC), Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT) and Pete Gallego (New Dem-TX). But members of the LGBT community who support the DCCC and it's chairman's antigay recruiting agenda should ask themselves if conservative creeps like Steve Israel replicating himself with virulent homophobic assholes like Jennifer Garrison is any worse for LGBT equality than what John Boehner does.


UPDATE: ENDA Passes The Senate

The filibuster was ended with a strong 61-30 vote, Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Susan Collins (R-ME), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Dean Heller (R-NV), Marc Kirk (R-IL), Bob Portman (R-OH), and Pat Toomey (R-PA) crossing the aisle to vote with all the Democrats. There were plenty of impassioned speeches during the debate-- but they were all for ENDA. Not even vicious homophobic bigots like Mike Lee, Ted Cruz and Ron Johnson wanted their words against the bill on the public record. There wasn't one word from the chicken-shit, anti-gay, far right peanut gallery.