The New Law That Would Outlaw LGBT Discrimination Everywhere

For 20 years, LGBT advocates have tried, unsuccessfully, to block companies in the U.S. from firing workers for being gay. The federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) was introduced in 1994 by Massachusetts Democrats Ted Kennedy in the Senate and Gerry Studds in the House. It was reintroduced in almost every congressional session and finally made it through the House in 2007, but wasn’t debated in the Senate that year because of disagreement among Democrats over whether to include transgender as well as gay employees. In 2013 a version passed the Senate, which was Democratic-controlled, only to die in the Republican-controlled House.

Now liberal lawmakers are setting the workplace-focused legislation aside in favor of a more ambitious approach. In July, congressional Democrats plan to put forward legislation that would outlaw LGBT discrimination not only in employment but also in education, credit, federal programs, housing, and jury service, as well as at restaurants and hotels. “We have, over time, taken a strategy of saying, ‘Let’s chip away at discrimination,’ ” says Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat who’s sponsored past ENDA bills and will introduce the comprehensive legislation. “I think the time has come, and the American public has moved far enough that we have a strong prospect."