SFGate.com – Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau
A rancorous breach within the gay community over dropping transgender people from a job discrimination bill widened Thursday when a committee approved the bill and moved it to the House floor.
Four Democrats bucked their party leadership to vote against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act as Congress’ only open lesbian moved to add gender identity back into the bill, which Democrats had hoped would be a signal civil rights achievement on their watch.
“This is the first time in the history of the civil rights movement that a bill that does not have the support of a single constituent organization is being moved to the House floor,” said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which opposes the legislation with nearly 300 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender activist groups and allies such as the American Civil Liberties Union.