Dear NCLR Champion,
You've probably heard a lot recently about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit harassment or firing of anyone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. I’m sure you’ll agree that we all need to tell our elected officials in Congress that it’s essential. Because the LGBT community needs ENDA passed—desperately.
But do you know why?
Sometimes, amid all the calls to action and alerts, it can be hard to remember why this legislation is critical to the lives of so many people around the country, and must become law.
In the past year, NCLR was contacted every week by LGBT people around the country who were harassed, discriminated against, or even fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Their jobs spanned a range of industries, public and private employers, and experience levels. From police officers and firefighters to counselors, engineers, managers, doctors’ assistants, journalists, and restaurant servers.
One of the cases that our attorneys and partners are working on involves a mother and daughter who harvested lettuce together in California’s Central Valley. I’ll call them M. and her daughter B. Their foreman discovered that B. was transgender and began harassing her. He made rude comments about her body and her appearance, and others in the crew began to make jokes as well. M. confronted the foreman, demanding that he respect her daughter. But instead, the foreman immediately issued her a warning.
Two weeks later, that harvesting season ended. The following season, the foreman re-hired every worker except M. and B. The pair tried for weeks to get their much-needed jobs back. By the time they contacted us, they had been out of work for weeks and were in dire straits. We immediately took action, telling the employers they had violated California law by allowing harassment against B. due to her gender expression and arguing they had illegally retaliated against our clients by refusing to rehire them after they complained of the unfair treatment.
Thankfully, as a result, our clients were re-hired, and back on the crew the following work day. That was possible because we were able to use California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, which prohibits this type of discrimination, to help these two clients. Without such protections nationwide—without the passage of ENDA—we simply will not be able to win cases for workers in dozens of other states where LGBT people have few employment protections.
The past support of NCLR’s loyal donors has helped us to answer the calls of wrongly fired workers and fight for clients like the mother and daughter above. We are hoping to raise $10,000 online from new supporters this year—can we count on your first-time gift now?
In addition to NCLR's work to fight workplace discrimination through our helpline and litigation, I also wanted to share with you a few key facts about NCLR’s history with ENDA. Did you know that NCLR...
- Was one of first organizations to push for a fully-inclusive ENDA;
- Helped draft ENDA to ensure that it includes both gender identity and expression;
- Is a founding member of the United ENDA Steering Committee, a strong grassroots coalition;
- Serves on the ENDA legislative drafting committee;
- Has a full-time grassroots organizer on staff who is organizing in key districts;
- Spoke at a National Press Club press conference to press for a vote on ENDA;
- Co-organized an ENDA rally in San Francisco;
- Worked with 700 local activists to schedule 100 in-district meetings in support of ENDA;
- Facilitated 70 phone banks for ENDA in the last 6 months; and
- Placed over 30,000 calls into key districts where ENDA most needs support, resulting in over 3,000 calls to Congress.
NCLR continues to do all that it can to change our nation’s laws for the better. We need ENDA and true workplace protections for all LGBT people now, and we must continue to fight discrimination. With your first-time gift today, you can help NCLR continue to pave the way for ENDA and empower and protect workers who have been discriminated against with your gift today. Truly, we can’t do it without you.
Kate Kendell, Esq.
Executive Director
