RESOLUTION by the board members of the Stonewall Democratic Club of 
New York City (SDNYC), the Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn 
(LID), the Gay and 
Lesbian Independent Democrats (GLID), the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club (JOLDC) and Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens (LGDCQ)  support of the federal ENDA and 
its original transgender inclusive language, and opposition to 
statements by Congressman Barney Frank on the exclusion of 
transgender people. 



Whereas, lesbians and gay men have been seeking federal protections 
from discrimination in the workplace for over 33 years; and



Whereas, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), originally introduced in 1996, is a proposed federal law that would prohibit 
discrimination in the workplace on the basis of sexual orientation; 
and



Whereas, the bill has had little movement since then, although local 
and state governments throughout the country have increasingly passed 
laws which give some protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and 
transgender persons; and

Whereas, language for gender identity and gender expression, which 
would include transgender people, had been added to ENDA in 2004; and

Whereas, New York State regrettably passed (with the urging of 
lesbians and gay men) the Sexual Orientation Non Discrimination Act 
(SONDA) in 2002 without transgender inclusion; and



Whereas, transgender New Yorkers statewide are still awaiting 
protections from discriminations that would have been covered in 
SONDA; and



Whereas, in New York State, the Jewish, African-American, Asian-
American and disabled communities waited eleven years for passage of 
the NYS Hate Crimes bill, based on principle, that it included sexual 
orientation language; and

Whereas, all major organizations are opposed to both the change in 
language, and bringing the bill to a vote with these changes, 
including the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the 
National Stonewall Democrats (NSD), Lambda Legal Education and 
Defense Fund, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the 
National Center for Transgender Equality, the Empire State Pride 
Agenda (ESPA) and AFL-CIO Pride At Work; and



Whereas, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) originally issued a 
statement that while it prefers inclusive language for transgender 
people, it would not oppose a vote with exclusive language, although 
it now appears to support a delay in voting on the non-inclusive 
version of the bill; and



Whereas, Congressman Barney Frank believes there are not enough votes 
in Congress to support keeping transgender inclusive language in ENDA 
and has proposed a revised bill that would exclude gender identity 
and expression, which would, in effect, exclude transgender people: 
and



Whereas, Congressman Frank and the HRC speak only for themselves and 
not the entire LGBT community in rushing passage of this bill without 
transgender inclusive language. In fact, openly lesbian Congresswoman 
Tammy Baldwin removed her name from the bill; and



Whereas, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a Hate 
Crimes bill with transgender inclusive language; and



Whereas, we understand that conservative members of the House may 
try a variety of maneuvers to remove the transgender inclusive 
language; and



Whereas, given the choice, the majority of the LGBT community would 
rather wait and educate Congress on transgender issues than force a 
vote on an exclusive ENDA; and

Whereas, lesbians and gay men have historically been left behind 
with respect to civil rights and many understand the pain of 
society's ignorance and fear towards transgender persons; and



Whereas, lesbians, gay men, bisexual and transgender people share 
common interests and goals; and



Whereas, transgender people are more times affected by bigotry and 
discrimination in employment, housing and other essential areas in 
life and desperately need the protections ENDA would require; 
therefore be it



Resolved, SDNYC, LID, GLID, JOLDC and LGDCQ strongly oppose new language in 
ENDA that would not include transgender individuals and will not 
support nor work towards the passage of such a bill; and



Resolved, the SDNYC, LID, GLID, JOLDC and LGDCQ strongly oppose bringing 
any version of ENDA that is not inclusive of all members of the LGBT 
community to the floor of Congress and voting upon it; and



Resolved, SDNYC, LID, GLID, JOLDC and LGDCQ call upon the HRC to either 
clarify or change its position and oppose any and all efforts to pass 
ENDA without transgender inclusive language; and



Resolved, SDNYC, LID, GLID, JOLDC and LGDCQ Congressman Frank's actions and 
explanations on ENDA, and applauds Congresswoman Baldwin for removing 
her name as sponsor; and



Resolved, SDNYC, LID, GLID, JOLDC and LGDCQ will send this resolution and 
letters urging all New York City representatives in Congress to join 
Congresswoman Baldwin and withhold their names from the bill.



The Resolution has passed.