Mixed levels of support for LGBT anti-discrimination bill in NC

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act was passed in the U.S. Senate earlier this month, and it is now up to the House to move it to a vote. The legislation prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan voted in favor of ENDA, and Senator Richard Burr voted against it. Though some LGBT rights advocates report strong public support locally, there are organizations in North Carolina pushing House members not to vote for ENDA.

Equality N.C.—an organization aimed at promoting equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people—lobbied North Carolina members of Congress to support ENDA throughout its Senate passage. As the bill is considered in the House, the organization is using a social media campaign and gathering signatures with over 1,000 petitions.

Equality N.C. Director of Communications Jen Jones said the “vast majority” of North Carolinian constituents—73 percent—are in favor of ENDA, according to the N.C.-based Public Policy Polling. She said the statistic solidifies that the issue is noncontroversial.

“It’s hard to find 73 percent who agree on anything in North Carolina, let alone on an LGBT issue,” Jones said. “This is something that isn’t a divisive issue. It’s simply about protecting people in the workplace.”

A 2011 report from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law estimated that there are nearly 7 million private sector LGBT employees in the United States, of which 167,317 were in North Carolina.

The 29 states that have not passed equivalent legislation on a state level would be most heavily affected if ENDA passes, said Gary Gates, the Williams Distinguished Scholar at the Williams Institute.

“It will take away the right of business owners to make employment decisions on the basis of merit, experience and performance, replacing it with special rights for homosexuals, bisexuals and transgendered people,” said Coalition Executive Director Tami Fitzgerald in an emailed statement. “ENDA crushes religious liberties, free speech and rights of conscience of Christian parents and business owners.”

Gates said the litigation of discrimination claims would be comparable to claims that are based on sex or race. He argued that the protection offered by ENDA is a civil right, not a special one.

“We oppose ENDA and other measures like it,” Fitzgerald said. “We oppose any attempts by government to create a special right based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

Fitzgerald said Hagan, who voted in favor of the act in the Senate, acted contrary to the wishes of people in North Carolina and that the vote “exposes [Hagan's] allegiance” to a radical gay rights agenda. N.C. Values Coalition is working with a grassroots network of pastors and citizens to urge congressmen and congresswomen to vote against ENDA if it comes to a vote in the House, Fitzgerald noted.

This vote will have difficulty taking place, however. Speaker of the House John Boehner has expressed his opposition to the bill and refused to bring it to the floor. If it does pass, it would have to do so without majority Republican support, something Boehner has attempted to prevent.

“This situation makes it difficult for Speaker Boehner to move on ENDA since he has been criticized in the past for passing legislation without majority support from his party,” Gates said.

Every Congress since 1994, except the 109th Congress, has seen ENDA introduced. Gates said increasing acceptance toward LGBT issues nationwide has contributed to the progress ENDA has made in this congressional session. Every congressional district shows majority support for the bill, which was not true the last time Congress voted on it in 2007.

Jones noted the importance of the 2012 fight against Amendment One, which changed North Carolina’s constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. She said the issue, though it was passed into law, publicized that people feared supporting LGBT issues because they might lose their jobs.

“There are instances every day that impact gay and transgender people not just in North Carolina but all across the country,” Jones said. “It is a problem with a solution, and this is the solution.”