CONGRESS NEEDS TO PASS THE EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT (President Barack Obama)

Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States. He was elected with over 50% of the popular vote in 2008 and 2012 becoming the first Democrat to do so since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. President Obama started his political career as an Illinois State Senator being elected to that position in 1996. In 2004 he gave a keynote address to the Democratic National Convention that skyrocketed him to national prominence which was followed by his election to the US Senate that November.

Prior to entering politics, he was president of the Harvard Law Review. He graduated with a bachelor of arts from Columbia University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law.

He was born in Honolulu, HI on 4 August 1961 to a woman from Kansas and man from Kenya. His wife, Chicago lawyer Michelle Robinson, and him were married in October 1992. They have two daughters, Malia and Sasha. President Obama and his family currently reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, DC which where they will reside there until 20 January 2017.

President Obama's record on LGBT issues speaks for itself as he has stood for the people that I hold near and dear to my heart. In 2009 the White House held its first ever LGBT Pride event recognizing the events that took place at the Stonewall Inn in June 1969. He signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act to include attacks based on the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. President Obama directed the Department of Health and Human Services to allow visitation rights for LGBT patients. Beginning next year, insurance companies cannot deny LGBT Americans health care coverage.

In an interview with ABC's Robin Roberts last year, President Obama stated his support for marriage equality becoming the first sitting president to do so. Recently, President Obama reaffirmed this nation's commitment to LGBT rights on a global scale when he stated this in an interview with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show:

And he signed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal Act of 2010 that allowed gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons to serve openly in the military.

President Obama in this op-ed is urging Congress to take up the Employee Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). This legislation would ensure LGBT Americans, especially the ones who are T like my fellow football prognosticator, Ms. Monica Roberts, are ensured workplace protections. I know many transgender persons through my connections in politics, and I know a couple of transgender veterans.

In April 2013, I attended the Texas Stonewall Democrats conference in Austin. While there a gentleman who works for a well known Democratic legislator in The Lege stated that after he transitioned he lost his rights.

Simply put: folks should not lose job security because they happen to be who they are.

This op-ed appears in the Huffington Post.

Here in the United States, we're united by a fundamental principle: we're all created equal and every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law. We believe that no matter who you are, if you work hard and play by the rules, you deserve the chance to follow your dreams and pursue your happiness. That's America's promise.

That's why, for instance, Americans can't be fired from their jobs just because of the color of their skin or for being Christian or Jewish or a woman or an individual with a disability. That kind of discrimination has no place in our nation. And yet, right now, in 2013, in many states a person can be fired simply for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

As a result, millions of LGBT Americans go to work every day fearing that, without any warning, they could lose their jobs -- not because of anything they've done, but simply because of who they are.

It's offensive. It's wrong. And it needs to stop, because in the United States of America, who you are and who you love should never be a fireable offense.

That's why Congress needs to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, also known as ENDA, which would provide strong federal protections against discrimination, making it explicitly illegal to fire someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This bill has strong bipartisan support and the support of a vast majority of Americans. It ought to be the law of the land.

Americans ought to be judged by one thing only in their workplaces: their ability to get their jobs done. Does it make a difference if the firefighter who rescues you is gay -- or the accountant who does your taxes, or the mechanic who fixes your car? If someone works hard every day, does everything he or she is asked, is responsible and trustworthy and a good colleague, that's all that should matter.

Business agrees. The majority of Fortune 500 companies and small businesses already have nondiscrimination policies that protect LGBT employees. These companies know that it's both the right thing to do and makes good economic sense. They want to attract and retain the best workers, and discrimination makes it harder to do that.

So too with our nation. If we want to create more jobs and economic growth and keep our country competitive in the global economy, we need everyone working hard, contributing their ideas, and putting their abilities to use doing what they do best. We need to harness the creativity and talents of every American.

So I urge the Senate to vote yes on ENDA and the House of Representatives to do the same. Several Republican Senators have already voiced their support, as have a number of Republicans in the House. If more members of Congress step up, we can put an end to this form of discrimination once and for all.

Passing ENDA would build on the progress we've made in recent years. We stood up against hate crimes with the Matthew Shepard Act and lifted the entry ban for travelers with HIV. We ended "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" so our brave servicemen and women can serve openly the country they love, no matter who they love. We prohibited discrimination in housing and hospitals that receive federal funding, and we passed the Violence Against Women Act, which includes protections for LGBT Americans.

My Administration had stopped defending the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, and earlier this year the U.S. Supreme Court struck down that discriminatory law. Now we're implementing that ruling, giving married couples access to the federal benefits they were long denied. And across the nation, as more and more states recognize marriage equality, we're seeing loving couples -- some who have been together for decades -- finally join their hands in marriage.

America is at a turning point. We're not only becoming more accepting and loving as a people, we're becoming more just as a nation. But we still have a way to go before our laws are equal to our Founding ideals. As I said in my second inaugural address, our nation's journey toward equality isn't complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law, for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.

In America of all places, people should be judged on the merits: on the contributions they make in their workplaces and communities, and on what Martin Luther King Jr. called "the content of their character." That's what ENDA helps us do. When Congress passes it, I will sign it into law, and our nation will be fairer and stronger for generations to come.