Advocate.com – Kerry Eleveld, The Advocate
The 11th annual national dinner of the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D.C., on Saturday was expected to be a time of outright celebration, with the organization honoring Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for her instrumental role in passing both hate-crimes legislation and, it was hoped, an Employment Non-Discrimination Act that protected the entire gay, lesbian, and transgender community.
But by the time of the gala event, while a transgender-inclusive hate-crimes bill had indeed passed both houses of Congress and was headed for the president’s desk, passage of a trans-inclusive ENDA was still up in the air, with the LGBT community divided about it and the House leadership scratching its head.
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, began his speech that evening by saying, “All right, let’s talk about the elephant in the room — and for a change, I don’t mean the Republicans. There are protesters outside this auditorium who feel great despair. There are people inside this auditorium who feel the same way. Let me just say I welcome their declarations…”