EDGE New England

Is anyone else tired of ENDA? I am. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s important legislation- and would be even more important if it included transgender Americans. What I’m tired of is the introduction of the bill year after year, the failure of action, and the vague promises and commitments that we will return to it next year and do better. Most of all though, what I want is a vision for something greater.

ENDA, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, was crafted in 1994 when it became evident that the passage of an omnibus civil rights act for gay and lesbian people was not imminent. The shuttered civil rights bill dated back to 1975, when it was first introduced by Representative Bella Abzug (D-NY). ENDA was a strategy to achieve civil rights protections piecemeal; first, secure them in the workplace and then in other locations such as public accommodations.

It’s fifteen years later: this particular piecemeal approach isn’t working.

The two most significant legislative gains gay and lesbian people have made in the past two decades (excluding legislation that funds AIDS treatment, education, and research) are the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008. Collectively these two laws allow gay and lesbian couples to rollover retirement savings without tax or penalty. This legislation is important for two reasons. First, it passed. Second, it remedies a real disparity between heterosexual couples and gay and lesbian couples.

I don’t want to diminish the significance of this legislation. In fact, I think it suggests a new piecemeal approach that could be productive for the next decade. What I want to talk about instead of the piecemeal elements that could comprise a legislative agenda is a comprehensive legislative vision. Our legislative vision needs to address all parts of our collective lives. It needs to be both broad and sweeping, and concrete and actionable. To my thinking, it includes these four elements:

Public Life We need to talk about the role of gay and lesbian people in public and the types of laws that are necessary to protect us in - and expand - the public sphere. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people need to be able to participate, openly, in all aspects of public life.

Work Protection from workplace discrimination is important. So too is equal treatment in the workplace with regard to benefits, family and medical leave, and all aspects of work. Especially now, with the economy in recession, recognizing the economic areas in which gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people are critical (entertainment, small business, urban development, etc.) and encouraging greater open participation is important.

Family There are myriad ways that gay and lesbian couples and the families we build - not just families that mimic nuclear families, but our families defined in a broad way - are not treated equally under the law, and not recognized. We have an obligation to be more open about our lives and our families as a vital contribution to American society.

Sexuality Laws that limit or stigmatize sexuality have to be opposed and eliminated. One of the gifts gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people can bring to American life is greater understanding about sexuality as a gift of human experience.

This isn’t a congressionally actionable agenda, but it’s a rubric to start thinking about our lives and our issues in broader-and ultimately more meaningful-ways.