WashBlade.com – Lou Chibbaro Jr
Election year politics, GOP filibuster cited as obstacles for ENDA, hate crimes
Gay rights advocates and gay-supportive members of Congress say they remain uncertain whether two important gay rights bills can clear the Senate before lawmakers adjourn in the fall to devote their efforts to the upcoming presidential and congressional elections.
Last year, the House of Representatives passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, two measures that gay advocacy groups had hoped would be enacted into law in 2007 or 2008 by a Congress newly controlled by the Democrats.