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The
Evangelical Network
Responds to Recent ENDA Bill Changes
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From
the President
Dear friends of
TEN:
For some time, we
have been challenged as an organzation to be more
vocal when it comes to social justice issues. We've
been approached by many of our affiliates and many
who are not affiliates but support this ministry.
We've been challenged to be more vocal when it
comes to social issues and social justices. Over the
past year we've been looking more and more at this
and have been encouraged by our private meetings
with organizational leaders from SoulForce, HRC and
GLAAD, all of which have stressed the need for the
gay Evangelical voice to be heard in the social
justice arena.
While we are not a
political organization and will remain as such, we
feel the time has come and it is "for such a
time as this" that when opportunties arise we
will be a voice in the wilderness that declares the
Word of the Lord. God is no respecter of persons and
as ministers, leaders and example-making Christians,
we have a call to support justice and fairness for
ALL.
I would like for
you to read and consider the following bulletin
regarding ENDA. Many of us have transgendered people
as active parts of the lives of our churches and
their lives are being affected by this upcoming
legislation. While this legislation will provide
protection for many of us, the latest attempt to
remove the transgendered community from it, in my
opinion, hurts one of the great communities that
needs this the most. Many in society and even within
some of our churches, don't fully understand the
transgendered community and the dynamics these men
and women face in life, which often is quite
different than that of gays and lesbians. We
believe so strongly in this that we have included
this in our workshop plans for TEN Conference 2008
in Phoenix (May 21-25, 2008)
Please consider
what part God may have you do in helping bring
fairness and justice for ALL of us.
In Christ's love,
Todd Ferrell
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People
of Faith Support a TRULY INCLUSIVE
Employment
Non-Discrimination Act H.R. 2015
WE
ARE AT AN HISTORIC MOMENT!
We have the opportunity to pass a genuinely inclusive
Employment Non- Discrimination Act (ENDA). The original
bill covers persons who are lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, and persons with disabilities. But some in
Congress would like to see transgender coverage stripped
from the Bill.
WE CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN!
Especially as people of faith, we know that equality,
justice, and fairness apply to ALL of the Creator's
children.
WHAT
CAN I DO?
As a person of faith, please consider taking the
following steps this week:
~ Call your representative: [U.S. Capitol switchboard
202.224.3121]
~ Identify yourself as a person of faith and a
constituent.
~ Tell them that, as a person of faith, you are asking
that they support a fully-inclusive ENDA and
that they vote against any amendment to
strip ENDA of transgender coverage.
~ Schedule a meeting with your member of Congress or his
or her staff in a district office sometime
before October 18. Ask other members of
your congregations to join you. If possible, have a mix
of
transgender and non-transgender folks at
the meeting.
~ Write a positive letter to the editor expressing
support for transgender protections. Don't attack
members of Congress for support of sexual
orientation-only legislation - call on them to fight
for full inclusion of transgender people
instead, and provide heartfelt reasons (like a personal
story)
for why it is the right thing to do.
~ www.WelcomingResources.org
Insist
on a Transgender-inclusive ENDA!
ENDA Must Contain Explicit Protections for Gender
Identity
~ ENDA should protect the entire gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender community from unequal
treatment in the workplace, especially those of
us who are most vulnerable to discrimination.
~ The LGBT community is one community, and we want to
move forward, together, in one bill.
~ Including explicit protections against discrimination
based on gender identity not only helps
transgender people; it also strengthens
ENDA for the rest of our community by ensuring that an
employer cannot fire or refuse to hire a
gay employee for an "effeminate" walk or a
lesbian employee
for dressing "too butch."
~ Despite advances in protecting transgender people on
the state and local level, as well as in the
private sector, it remains perfectly legal
in 39 states to fire someone solely based on his or her
gender identity.
~ Recent national surveys have found that 65% of people
believe it should be illegal to discriminate
against transgender people in employment.
About
the Employment Non-Discrimination Act
~ This legislation would address discrimination in the
workplace by making it illegal to fire, refuse to
hire, or refuse to promote an employee
simply based on his or her sexual orientation, gender
identity, or disability.
~ ENDA closely follows the model of existing federal
civil rights laws, including Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with
Disabilities Act, ensuring that LGBT people are treated
in the same way as other groups protected
under law - no better, no worse.
~ Most of America's smartest business minds understand
that a person's sexual orientation or gender
identity has nothing to do with their job
performance. That is why 200 Fortune 500 companies
include gender identity in their
nondiscrimination policies.
~ Federal law has also been outpaced by the actions of
state and local leaders. Thirty-seven percent
of the country, including eleven states and
more than 90 cities and counties, have passed
protections for the transgender community. |
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About
The Evangelical Network
The Evangelical Network (TEN) is a group of Bible
believing churches, ministries, Christian workers and
individuals bound together by a common shared faith,
united in purpose and witness and established as a
positive resource and support for Christian gays and
lesbians.
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