Thursday, November 14, 2013

Politics

House Speaker still opposed to allowing vote on ENDA
By Brody Levesque | WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John Boehner, (R-OH) told reporters during a press conference Thursday that he is still very much opposed to to allowing a vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which the Senate passed last week.
The Speaker noted that in his view the legislation which is designed to protect LGBTQ people in the workplace on a federal level is unnecessary as laws and regulations currently exist to protect LGBT persons from being discriminated against.
"I am opposed to discrimination of any kind — in the workplace and any place else. But I think this legislation — that I have dealt with as chairman of the Education Workforce Committee long before I was back in the leadership — is unnecessary and would provide a basis for frivolous lawsuits. People are already protected in the workplace. I am opposed to continuing this. 
Listen, I understand people have different opinions on this issue, and I respect those opinions. But as someone who has worked in the employment law area for all of my years in the statehouse and all of my years here, I see no basis or no need for this," Boehner said.
Currently, it is still legal in 29 states to fire employees based on their sexual orientation and in 33 states based on their gender identity. LGBTQ activists have also pointed out that LGBTQ people are not covered under federal law(s) in the Speaker's home state of Ohio.
A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,(D-NV) told LGBTQ Nation Thursday, that the Senate Leader maintains that should Boehner allow the House to vote on the bill, it most likely would pass.

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