To the Editor:
We can’t miss this opportunity. For more than 30 years, federal legislation to end legal discrimination against LGBT Americans has stalled in Congress, but next month, the Senate may vote on the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, and we need to do everything we can to ensure that Sen. Toomey joins Sen. Casey in support of workplace opportunity.
The reality is that most people think that it’s already against the law to fire someone from their job because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. And for those of us in the 33 municipalities in Pennsylvania where our local governments have passed human-relations ordinances, it is. But for 70 percent of Pennsylvanians, it is still 100-percent legal to discriminate against LGBT people at work.
Sen. Casey has long been a sponsor of ENDA, and he deserves our thanks for his strong support for workplace equality, but Sen. Toomey has yet to say where he stands. If Sen. Toomey commits to voting yes on ENDA, we are one vote closer to the 60-vote threshold to prevent a filibuster. The best thing the LGBT community can do this month to advocate for equality is to contact Sen. Toomey’s office and ask him to vote yes on ENDA to guarantee workplace opportunity for all Pennsylvanians!
— Adrian Shanker Equality Pennsylvania president