President Obama received a letter on Wednesday from 110 members of Congress calling on him to sidestep those jackoffs in Congress (present company excluded) and sign the Employment Non-Discrimination Act into law by executive order.
Recognizing that the Republican-led House of Representatives will never get its act together, the House Democrats, led by Reps. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.), decided to take the matter to the White House’s front door. Or at least, its mailbox.
“It is unacceptable that it remains legal to fire or refuse to hire someone based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity,” the letter reads. “Federal law continues to allow this and discrimination based on sexual orientation is legal in 29 states and discrimination because of gender identity is legal in 34 states. Action at the federal level can put a stop to these unfair and discriminatory workplace practices in every state.”
Last month, 37 Senators and 54 LGBT advocacy groups wrote similar letters calling on Obama to sign the executive order.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
While Obama publicly supports ENDA, and his administration has hinted in the past that it might issue an executive order, the president would like for the bill to go through Congress. A White House spokesman reaffirmed the president’s stance, stating that “his administration will continue to work to build support for it.”
Polis, along with the five other openly LGBT members of the House signed the letter: David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). Noticeably absent from the list of signees, however, was a single House Republican, as well as several prominent House Democrats, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
According to a spokesman, Pelosi does not sign group letters as custom…right.
Photo: Wikipedia
