Help support pro-gay rights candidates in California

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Wednesday September 29, 2010 · 10:13 AM PDT

2010/09/29 · 10:13

Hi. I volunteer with Equality California, the group trying to repeal Proposition 8 and bring marriage equality back to California. I wanted to let you know that every weekend until the election Equality California will be holding phonebanks at each of its statewide offices doing get-out-the-vote calls for pro-LGBT candidates-- and we have a huge need for volunteers right now.

mcc111

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Thursday August 05, 2010 · 7:37 AM PDT

2010/08/05 · 07:37

The Human Rights Campaign and Servicemembers Defense Legal Network need your help to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell and pass an inclusive Employment Nondiscrimination Act.

HRC and SLDN have set up a site called Countdown 2010 for their campaign to get these things done, and get them done this year. To do this they're looking for people to call, write, and arrange personal meetings with the staff of their Congresspersons, to urge them to act. They have step by step instructions on how you can do any or all three of these things.

Visit countdown2010.hrc.org to get started, or read below for some more details.

Poll

6 votes Show Results

Have you made plans to attend a Congressmember town hall during the August recess?

6 votes Vote Now!

Have you made plans to attend a Congressmember town hall during the August recess?

Yup!

1 vote

Not yet, but I'll go find one now

1 vote

Nah, not interested

4 votes

I'm in Canada. What the heck are you guys doing down there?

0 votes

Action for LGBT rights: Nancy Pelosi, keep your ENDA promises

mcc111

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Thursday March 18, 2010 · 8:29 AM PDT

2010/03/18 · 08:29

I am posting today as part of a blogswarm (more information here) for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, organized by The Bilerico Project. We are trying to get the message out to as many blogs as possible with a simple message:

Please call Speaker Nancy Pelosi at 202-225-4965. Ask that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, HR 3017, move to a vote. Please be polite, but firm.

After you call, please use this form to let us know you called, so we can tally up results. I'll update this post at the end of the day with the results from the swarm organizers.

More detail on what's happening and why this is needed after the jump.

mcc111

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Monday December 07, 2009 · 8:52 AM PST

2009/12/07 · 08:52

HRC announced on its Backstory blog late Friday afternoon that it had been officially informed by the House Committee on Labor and Education that ENDA will not be considered by the House this year.

I have been privileged to write about ENDA daily since its introduction in June. Thank you to all of those who have followed my posts and made those calls. We moved ENDA far up the field before the time out, with well over the votes needed in the House and missing only a few votes in the Senate.

I will now take a hiatus from my daily postings to address the personal and professional issues that have received short shrift during the past six months. I will continue to post occasionally about this and other issues, and I note that we need to continue our efforts to ensure that this bill isn't parked again.

mcc111

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Friday December 04, 2009 · 8:31 AM PST

2009/12/04 · 08:31

LGBT organizations have stepped forward to add their voices to those of LGBT citizens, allies and progressive groups calling for moving the Employment Non-Discrimination Act forward. But no amount of lobbying can make a difference if Congressman George Miller of the House Committee on Labor and Education chooses to ignore us.

After all, it's been almost a month since rumors surfaced of an ENDA delay, and three weeks since he abruptly cancelled the ENDA markup hearing, and he has made no statement on why or how or when or what, except to list three minor language tweaks. On November 17, the day after the terse postponement notice on the Committee's website, the Advocate stated "The ENDA markup will likely be delayed for two to three weeks, according to a Hill staffer, and should be rescheduled for sometime after the Thanksgiving holiday." Sometime, indeed.

mcc111

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Thursday December 03, 2009 · 9:08 AM PST

2009/12/03 · 09:08

It is 5 minutes to midnight on ENDA, with still a possibility of getting a vote this year.

Let me first say -- get on the phone and call the House Committee to help get ENDA moving again. It ain't over till its over, and you have to be in it to win it. Okay, now that you've all done that, let's drop the happy crap, and examine what happened to ENDA in 2009 to bring us from the assumptions of invulnerability surrounding its re-introduction, to today, when we are staring at its imminent placement in the deep freeze. This will help the LGBT and progressive communities realize how much more effort is really needed to pass ENDA.

I am pleased to say that I have been invited to discuss ENDA on the Michelangelo Signorile radio show on Sirius-XM this afternoon at 4:30 ET. I am not pleased to say that many more such discussions should have been out there months ago on many radio shows and websites and newspapers in the LGBT and progressive communities.

mcc111

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Wednesday December 02, 2009 · 12:02 PM PST

2009/12/02 · 12:02

Guess what's on next week's markup schedule? Not ENDA.

The House Committee on Education and Labor has published its schedule for next week, and ENDA is not there. ENDA could be marked up the following week, but there wouldn't be enough time to get it to the floor for a vote before the House left for the winter vacation.

However, I spoke to a contact on the Committee, and was advised that it is possible that ENDA could still be scheduled for a markup next week, with the proviso that 72 hours notice are required. No answer to my question about how likely that is.

So, although the sands of time are slipping rapidly to the bottom of the hourglass, a miracle could still occur. Let's go for it! Call the members of the House Committee on Education and Labor and ask that they move ENDA forward.

mcc111

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Tuesday December 01, 2009 · 9:05 AM PST

2009/12/01 · 09:05

The rumors of problems with the Employment Non-Discrimination Act have been circulating for weeks now, and yet there has been little response by the LGBT community and the wider progressive community. The markup of the bill has been postponed with no reschedule date by Representative George Miller, chair of the House Committee where the bill is currently languishing.

It is pretty obvious even to casual observers that ENDA's passage will occur "no time soon," in the words of Jewelle Johnson, head of the diversity committee at national labor law firm Fisher & Johnson in today's edition of Human Resource Executive Online

mcc111

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Monday November 30, 2009 · 8:34 AM PST

2009/11/30 · 08:34

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act bill (ENDA), which was originally planned for a House vote in September or October, then November, now looks like it's headed for a February landing. That's problematic because it puts ENDA into the Senate during an ultra-difficult time: a major legislative logjam, a major jobs initiative, midterm election campaigns, and a promised Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal.

However, under the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives [see page 8, section c(2)], three members of the Committee can demand a markup, which must be scheduled within three days. The names of friendly Committee members are provided after the jump so you can call and demand action.

A nation-wide community conference call has been scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, Dec. 1st, at noon (ET) to discuss actions we can take to push a vote on ENDA now. It will last one hour. The agenda is posted after the jump. All are welcome, and I hope you will join us. Register here.

mcc111

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Wednesday November 25, 2009 · 9:09 AM PST

2009/11/25 · 09:09

An Open Letter to Chairman George Miller of the House Committee on Education and Labor, where the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is stalled while awaiting markup.

Dear Chairman Miller:

I know Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and that you are back in your home district in California to celebrate with your family and friends. But don't reach for that turkey yet. Many of my friends and family are unemployed and underemployed because of discrimination. We are wondering why you are holding up rescheduling the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in your Committee.

"Tweak" the language of the bill if you think you must, but why not get it on the schedule? How long could it take to "tweak"?

After the jump: Contact info for Chairman Miller, and The Advocate suggests that we vote on whether to scrap gender identity protections from ENDA.

mcc111

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Tuesday November 24, 2009 · 9:05 AM PST

2009/11/24 · 09:05

Representative George Miller is the chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor. His Committee was supposed to markup the Employment Non-Discrimination Act last Wednesday and move it to the House floor for a vote. Instead, he has decided to hold ENDA in Committee to "tinker" with language that needs no tinkering, with no guarantee that it will be rescheduled in December.

If you value ENDA, please call the Committee on Education and Labor now, and ask that ENDA, HR 3017, be rescheduled immediately for a markup the first week in December.

Let's do this for two days - Tuesday and Wednesday, to give enough time to for everyone to come on board. Here's the number - dial early and often: House Committee on Education and Labor: 202-225-3725. (You can also call the toll free DC Capitol line and ask for the Committee: 866-220-0044)

There is also a petition to sign online: click here.

mcc111

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday November 23, 2009 · 9:09 AM PST

2009/11/23 · 09:09

It was a surprise to most people that the markup of ENDA, scheduled for last Wednesday morning at 10 am, was abruptly postponed on Monday night at 6:30 pm, heralded by a terse red notice on the House Committee on Education and Labor website. After all, ENDA had been touted for months as the next promise to be kept to our community, with LGBT House leaders embracing a vote in September or October.

But in a city like DC, where reading tea leaves is a high art, it really shouldn't have been much of a surprise. Rumors of an ENDA postponement appeared two weeks ago. Congressman Frank told a reporter that ENDA could be voted on "in February," and that the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations bill (DPBO) is first in line before ENDA.

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Action for LGBT rights: Nancy Pelosi, keep your ENDA promises

Weekly ENDA Update: It's official, no ENDA this year

Congress still silent on ENDA

Don't let marriage setbacks drown out ENDA: Call now

Is the Employment Nondiscrimination Act dead for the year?

Why Is Our Community Silent on ENDA?

How to Get the Employment Nondiscrimination Act Moving Again

Open Letter to Chairman George Miller on ENDA

Let's Tell Chairman George Miller to Move ENDA

The Employment Nondiscrimination Act: Reading the Tea Leaves