For
the first time in the history of the United States Senate, the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) passed this chamber on Thursday by 64-32 vote.
One
of the supporters of this legislation is Senator Tammy Baldwin (D, WI). At this time last year Senator Baldwin was
celebrating her history making election becoming the first woman from
Wisconsin elected to the Senate and the first openly gay person elected to this
chamber.
Baldwin
highlighted in a post-2012
election interview that she did not run to make history but to make a
difference.
This
proposed legislation makes a difference for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender workers in ensuring they have protection in the workplace. The
legislation proposed by the Senate is being praised for being inclusive of transgender workers.
While
Wisconsin has openly gay congress members like Senator Tammy Baldwin and
Representative Mark Pocan
(D, WI-1), The Badger State is one of 29 states where a person can be fired for
being LGBT as correctly
pointed out by former tennis star Martina Navratilova. Also at this time
Wisconsin is one of 35 states that does not recognize marriages of same-sex couples.
Senator Baldwin and Rep.
Pocan come from a state that do not provide them workplace protections and
will not recognize the relationship between Rep. Pocan and his husband.
This
is a difference maker.
On
Wednesday Senator Baldwin spoke on the floor about what the passage of ENDA
means for this country.
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