LGBT Activists Target Tammy Baldwin on Civil Rights

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 14, 2014

CONTACT:
Queer Nation: news@queernationny.org

LGBT Activists Target Tammy Baldwin on Civil Rights

Queer Nation Demands Comprehensive Federal Civil Rights Legislation

New York, NY (Aug. 14, 2014) – In its ongoing effort to pressure Congressional Democrats to advance comprehensive federal civil rights legislation that will give lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans the same rights and protections that all other Americans have, Queer Nation is targeting Sen. Tammy Baldwin in a social media campaign titled “Which Side of Your Mouth Should We Listen To?”

Baldwin, a lesbian, supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which only bars employment discrimination against LGBT people and has a sweeping religious exemption that would let nearly 200,000 religiously affiliated employers fire or deny jobs to LGBT Americans.

Many national and state LGBT groups, including the community’s largest legal organizations, have dumped ENDA over its religious exemption.

Following her vote for ENDA in the US Senate last year, Baldwin said “What we’ve seen on the Senate floor today…is such a restatement of basic American values of freedom, of fairness, and of opportunity.”  

Queer Nation member Ken Kidd said “Nothing could be more American than believing that all of us must be equal under the law. As more and more voters are learning, ENDA will never protect LGBT Americans from discrimination in housing, public accommodations, credit, education, and federally funded programs and its employment protections are deeply flawed. Tammy Baldwin can talk about freedom and fairness, but she votes like someone who thinks LGBT people are second class." 

Queer Nation’s campaign, which started three weeks ago, earlier targeted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who has since endorsed comprehensive federal civil rights legislation for LGBT Americans. Rep. Mark Takano, Rep. Mark Pocan, Rep. Mike Michaud, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, Rep. David Cicilline, and Rep. Jared Polis, all of whom are gay, and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who is bisexual, were also targeted. The campaign has received nearly 56,000 views on Facebook. It is also being distributed on Twitter and other social media networks.

Queer Nation demands a comprehensive civil rights law that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, education, credit, public accommodations, and federally funded programs.