Kayla Doyle
What issue did you follow in Washington?
By Kayla Doyle
Fall 2013
At my office at the VA HQ
In Washington it’s hard not to follow the issues – they seem to surround you, permeating all facets of life from school work to conversations in the coffee shop. It’s a virtual haven for the politically-minded, like myself, who may sometimes overestimate their friends interest in the subject. This past fall has certainly been an interesting time to be in D.C. with a range of important and controversial proposals and events dominating the headlines, including the Government Shutdown, the Affordable Care Act implementation and subsequent problems, sexual assaults in the military, NSA leaks, and the Iran Nuclear Weapons deal. Still, for me one issue has become more important than the rest – the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, ENDA.
This is the second attempt to pass ENDA in recent years (the first stalled in the Senate in 2011). ENDA would ban discrimination in the work place based on sexual orientation or gender identity, which is not covered by federal laws and only by a handful of state laws. This version of ENDA is particularly significant because it includes provision for gender identity, which would protect transgender individuals. The last version of ENDA divided supporters when it dropped these provisions in an effort to gain broader support for the law. Transgender individuals report higher rates of workplace harassment and higher rates of unemployment (despite higher rates of college education) than cisgender (non-transgender) individuals. ENDA enjoys wide voter support with majorities of both parties but still faces an uphill battle.
A recent push by LBGTQ rights activists brought the bill to the Senate where it passed with bipartisan support after the religious freedom clause was broadened, allowing more groups to circumnavigate ENDA’s provisions based on religious objections. The bill is currently in limbo after House Majority leader John Boehner came out in opposition to it, citing the possibility of frivolous lawsuits, and refused to bring it to the floor for a vote. President Obama has repeatedly promised to sign the bill into law should it pass the House but has so far been reluctant to use an Executive Order to ban such discrimination with federal contractors, a limited but significant step. At the moment ENDA’s future remains uncertain but supporters hope enough public pressure could force a vote.
For me, ENDA holds a particular place of interest. Someone very close to me is transgender and I have witnessed his struggles first hand. I remember the years of turmoil he went through as he worked to accept himself, the episodes of self-harm that scarred us all, the fear in his eyes when he came out to me, my own struggle to acknowledge and accept that this was not a phase, the moments of pain when he was miss-gendered at school, and my ultimate pride as I watched him graduate, appropriately attired in the male graduation colors of dark blue, top of his class, voice starting to crack from the hormone treatments, determined not to let anything stand in his way. He is the best person I know and it pains me to think of the struggles he has had to face and those I know he will face because we, as a society, are too slow to evolve and accept those around us. Something like ENDA could make a very big, very real difference in his life and the lives of those like him. It’s a solid step towards equality, one that we must take.
While this version of ENDA may have hit a dead-end, it’s an improvement on the previous version and the dedication and passion of ENDA supporters gives me hope we will make this law.
With the Fall 2013 class on Capitol Hill
