WashBlade.com Lou Chibbaro Jr
Frank to help draft new language; Kennedy mum on support for bill
Democratic and Republican members of the House and Senate will introduce a new version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, early next year that for the first time will include protection for transgender persons, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said this week.
Frank, who has been a lead sponsor of ENDA in the past, said he believes a carefully drafted trans-inclusive ENDA would likely receive the same if not more co-sponsors than the earlier version did in 2004.
Known as the nation?s federal gay civil rights bill, ENDA has called for banning employment discrimination in the private sector workplace based solely on someone?s sexual orientation. The revised version would also ban employment discrimination based on a person?s ?gender expression and identity,? the term used to cover trans people, according to activists familiar with the proposed bill.