WE'RE BACKING DOWN ENDA!
By Rev. Ted Pike
10 May 10
Friday's headline on The Hill.com reports: “Transgender
Anti-Discrimination Bill Becomes Tough Sell for Centrist Dems.” It
reveals, “The bill scares centrist Democrats, who don’t
want to be forced to vote on a hot-button issue popular on the left
as they approach November Congressional elections in which heavy Democrat
losses are expected.”
Last week the National Prayer Network encouraged lovers of freedom
to bombard 13 undecided Senators with protest against the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act. Today, while most offices would not reveal the
level of calling, some did. The offices of Senators Dorgan, Johnson,
Nelson, and Hagan are receiving "lots of calls both pro and con," with
Hagan getting them "all day long." I am very grateful for your
response, but clearly, the homosexual lobby is also fighting hard for
these crucial votes.
What frightens wavering Democrats is the bill’s requirement that if
any male employee of a business of 15 employees or more claims he intends to
become a female then, with nothing more than notification
to his employer, he may lawfully enter that business’ female bathroom
and shower facilities.
Many Republicans and Democrats who supported ENDA in 2007—when it merely
prohibited employers from refusing to hire or from firing qualified homosexuals—are
reluctant to support the new ENDA allowing “transitioning” men
such access.
“It’s going to make it a lot more difficult for me to support
it,” Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-PA) told The Hill. “It’s
a very touchy issue to most Americans.” The Hill says “dozens
of members who supported the 2000 bill” and who are “Democrats
facing uphill reelection battles” have not yet signed onto the transgender
ENDA. The Hill says, “Those Democrats were loathe to discuss
the transgender issue this week. Several did not respond to queries about their
position, while others said they were undecided.”
“I don’t have anything to say on that,” replied Jason Altmire
(D-PA). “I’m still considering all of that,” said Rep. Rick
Boucher (D-VA). Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) said she is also undecided on
the bill. All three of the lawmakers face challenging reelection prospects
this fall.
Pro-transgender “advocates say they have yet to receive a firm commitment
from the [Democrat] leadership.” Senate Majority Leader Reid, a Mormon
and battling stiff re-election opposition from conservatives in Utah, has not
declared support for a transgender ENDA.
The gay lobby is focusing almost all of its effort on the Senate. So should
we.
Again, here is the list of undecided Senators which LGBT activists are particularly
trying to convert:
- Mark Warner (D-VA)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
- Tim Johnson (D-SD)
- Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
- Robert Byrd (D-WV)
- Harry Reid (D-NV)
- Max Baucus (D-MT)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- John Tester (D-MT)
- Kay Hagan (D-NC)
- Evan Bayh (D-IN)
- Scott Brown (R-MA)
Keep pressuring the above Senators, phoning toll-free at 1-877-851-6437. Also
call the members of the Senate from your state with the following message, “Please
tell the Senator not to vote for the disgusting ENDA bill, S.1584. It would
entitle male employees who claim they want to become women to use female restroom
and shower facilities. We will never forgive the Democrats, especially at midterms,
if the Senator votes for this obscene legislation.”
Although it is difficult to gauge the full extent of our protest calling to
these Senators over the past week, their offices appreciate being informed
of the actual location of the transgender provision in ENDA.
It is Sec. 8, (a), (3):
[“CERTAIN SHARED FACILITIES—Nothing in this Act shall be construed
to establish an unlawful employment practice based on actual or perceived gender
identity due to the denial of access to shared shower or dressing facilities
in which being seen unclothed is unavoidable, provided that the employer provides
reasonable access to adequate facilities that are not inconsistent with the
employee’s gender identity as established with the employer at the time
of employment or upon notification to the employer that the employee has undergone
or is undergoing gender transition, whichever is later.”]
Homosexual rights groups vow to continue their fight to sell ENDA’s
transgender provision. Rep. Barney Frank says he is “optimistic” it
will pass the House.
It is up to us to make sure it doesn’t! Your calls to wavering “centrist
Democrats” in the Senate can make the difference. If pro-ENDA forces
can’t convince 60 Senators to support ENDA, House Democrats will most
likely never bring it to a vote.
At stake is more than ENDA. If this bill is defeated, it will probably mean
death in the 111 th Congress for at least three similar pieces of pro-homosexual
legislation, also conceived and promoted by the Anti-Defamation League and
the homosexual lobby.
- The Student Non-Discrimination Act, H.R. 4530, makes it a federal hate
crime to repeatedly criticize (harass) a grade or high school student for
his or her homosexuality .
- The Every Child Deserves a Family Act, H.R. 3827, forces adoption agencies
to place foster children with homosexuals.
- The Freedom from Discrimination in Credit Act, H.R. 4376, makes it
a federal crime to deny a homosexual (who might be dying of AIDS) a loan
because of his or her homosexuality.
As I said in my previous e-alert, defeat of ENDA and these other hate crime
bills could resuscitate hope in the embattled Right that we can still change
Washington through legislative means. With so many hopeful signs of ENDA's
demise, how can anyone continue to make the tired, unimaginative, and now absurdly impractical argument
that, short of revolution or mid-term elections, there is nothing we can do?
New Video: "The Naked Truth
About ENDA"
Christina Elford, just turned 20, is a Tea Party supporter who is determined
to wake up other Tea Partiers to bigger issues than just taxes. Last fall,
on her own initiative, she laboriously typed in her own e-list of more than
600 Tea Party chapters in America. An admirer of the National Prayer Network,
she has since informed them weekly with news and articles from Truthtellers.org.
(Visit her blog: ThePatriotForTruthMovement.blogspot.com)
Now, equally concerned about possible passage of ENDA, Christina and my niece,
NPN filmmaker Becki Pike, have produced a hard-hitting, fast-moving five-minute
video, "The
Naked Truth About ENDA." (Watch
it on Truthtellers.org)
This video should inspire all lovers of freedom to call wavering Senators this
week. But it should especially motivate young people of high school and college
age. NPN encourages you to watch it now and show it at your church and youth
groups this Wednesday and Sunday. This week could determine if ENDA loses all
steam or creeps over the finish line to passage in both House and Senate. If
viewed widely, "The
Naked Truth About ENDA" could play an important role in ending the hopes
of this frightening legislation.
