Queer Nation at the Lucille Lortel; ENDA ain’t Performing

We gathered outside the Lucille Lortel on Christopher Street this evening to leaflet and engage folks attending the launch of an LGBT history project. The Arcus Foundation has funded a series of posters that are placed in shop windows along Christopher Street. We invite you to stroll down to the West Village and have a look.

We were there with a Gilbert Baker banner to talk about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and what it won’t do for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. It doesn’t ban discrimination against us in housing, public accommodations, credit, education, and federally financed programs. It doesn’t give us access to the protections in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

ENDA’s religious exemption will allow nearly 200,000 religiously affiliated employers, such as schools and universities, charities, hospitals, and other organizations, to discriminate against LGBT people in any job.

What we need is comprehensive federal civil rights legislation that gives us the same rights and protections that are extended to every other American.