Civil & Human Rights

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the legislative deadlock in the Illinois House of Representatives may be over and the House will vote on the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act this week, with an amendment to delay the effective date until 2014. House could vote on gay marriage this week, with boost from Madigan:

A key House lawmaker seeking to legalize
same-sex marriage remained cagey Monday about voting on his legislation
this week, but all signals pointed toward that — with perhaps the
biggest sign of all being House Speaker Michael Madigan’s heightened
involvement in the push.

State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), the
lead House sponsor of the measure to permit gay and lesbian couples to
wed in Illinois, gave his social media followers a strong hint that a
long-delayed House vote on the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness
Act may be imminent.

“Heading to Springfield to get it done,”
Harris posted in a status update Monday morning on his Facebook
account, as state lawmakers prepared to convene Tuesday for the final,
scheduled, three-day leg of their fall session.

Harris also dropped another hint over
the weekend that the tally was at a critical phase, telling his Facebook
followers that he was “counting votes and twisting arms.”

In an earlier interview with the Chicago
Sun-Times, Harris said his bid to persuade House members to pass his
legislation was “moving in the right direction” and, in yet another sign
of a possible roll call this week, said “the time is now to make sure
people are treated with equality in Illinois.”

A concrete precursor to a vote this week likely would be a move by
Harris to tweak the bill so it would take effect next year instead of
possibly later this year. Doing so would lower the number of votes he
would need in the House to pass it from 71 to 60 but would require
backing from the Senate, which should not be a problem. As of late
Monday, Harris had not filed an amendment containing such a change.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Religious conservatives, taking full
advantage of the state House's commitment to hear from everyone on gay
marriage, have deliberately sought to prolong a hearing before the House
Judiciary Committee and the House Finance Committee in a strategy of a "citizens filibuster" of the bill. Gay-marriage opponents stall hearing (Honolulu Star-Advertiser, subscription required).

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports, Hawaii gay marriage hearing stretches into 4th day:

Two Hawaii House committees considering a bill to legalize gay marriage are tightening rules on testimony at a joint hearing after some
people used a [stolen] registration list to speak for others.

Rep. Sylvia Luke, chairwoman of the House Finance Committee, told reporters Monday that the judiciary and finance committees were allowing people to only testify for themselves and checking identifications.

The tighter regulations come after a speaker registration list went missing from outside the auditorium late Saturday, then was used by some people to testify for registrants who were called but not present, Luke said.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The vote on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) was 61-30 to end the GOP filibuster, with several supporters not even present to vote. Arizona's Sen. Jeff Flake voted in favor of filibustering this bill to death — shame on him. Sen. John McCain did not vote — probably too busy trying to find a television station that would interview him to make him feel important. He has his priorities. [Update: The Republic reports "McCain tweeted before the vote that he was taping an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon."]

A final vote in the Senate could come as early as the end of this week. The question is what happens in the Tea-Publican controlled House, where the TanMan, Weeper of the House Jon Boehner, indicated on Monday that he will not bring ENDA up for a vote. The real queston is, "who is actually opposed to this bill?"

Robert Jones at the Washington Post reports, Most Republicans, evangelicals support ENDA:

With seven Republican senators and all 55 Democratic senators publicly on board,
it now seems likely that the Senate will debate and vote this week on
the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would ban employment
discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.
If the bill moves forward, it would represent the newest effort since
the 1970s to address the issue and the first time since 1996 that the
Senate has given the legislation an up-or-down vote.

Although you would not guess it by the tepid support among most
Republican senators, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of Americans
support workplace protections for gay and lesbian Americans.
Among younger Americans, a group Republicans candidates have struggled
to attract, support rises to 81 percent. And most striking is this:
majorities of both Republicans (60 percent) and Democrats (80 percent)
as well as majorities of every major religious group, including
six-in-ten (59 percent) white evangelical Protestants, favor workplace
protections for gay and lesbian people.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In an editorial opinion for the Huffington Post today, President Obama writes Congress Needs to Pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act:

Here in the United States, we're united by a fundamental principle:
we're all created equal and every single American deserves to be treated
equally in the eyes of the law. We believe that no matter who you are,
if you work hard and play by the rules, you deserve the chance to
follow your dreams and pursue your happiness. That's America's promise.

That's why, for instance, Americans can't be fired from their jobs just
because of the color of their skin or for being Christian or Jewish or a
woman or an individual with a disability. That kind of discrimination
has no place in our nation. And yet, right now, in 2013, in many states
a person can be fired simply for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or
transgender.

As a result, millions of LGBT Americans go to work every day fearing
that, without any warning, they could lose their jobs — not because of
anything they've done, but simply because of who they are.

It's offensive. It's wrong. And it needs to stop, because in the
United States of America, who you are and who you love should never be a
fireable offense.

That's why Congress needs to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act,
also known as ENDA, which would provide strong federal protections
against discrimination, making it explicitly illegal to fire someone
because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This bill has
strong bipartisan support and the support of a vast majority of
Americans. It ought to be the law of the land.