Stonewall Democrats Launch United ENDA
(Thursday, October 04, 2007)
Washington, DC - Today, the National Stonewall Democrats and more than 150 groups announced the launch of a united lobbying and advocacy campaign to win passage of the fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), H.R. 2015. United ENDA is a coalition and campaign to build upon the unprecedented solidarity in strategy demonstrated by more than 150 organizations determined to pass the original ENDA.
“National Stonewall Democrats are united in our support for the original ENDA which includes protections for both sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Jon Hoadley, Executive Director of National Stonewall Democrats. "We recognized early that this week would quickly become a tipping point in how our movement organizes and how Democrats interact with our community. We have helped launch United ENDA in order to capitalize on that momentum and ensure that our party is pushed towards a winning strategy to end employment discrimination for working Americans."
National Stonewall Democrats was at the center of early organizing efforts to save the original Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Working with organizations such as the Task Force, and the National Center for Transgender Equality, Stonewall Democrats quickly helped organizers build a coalition that has now grown to more than 150 organizations.
United ENDA is the active lobby and campaign effort to pass the original Employment Non-Discrimination Act. It began with organizing a joint letter to Congress and quickly developed into a full campaign complete with grassroots and professional lobbying efforts. As a direct response to lobby efforts by the United ENDA coalition, a scheduled House committee hearing on a substitute bill - which did not include provisions for gender identity - was postponed this week, providing United ENDA with a short window to continue its advocacy for H.R. 2015.
"Our organizations are united and are now leading the strategy that will save the original Employment Non-Discrimination Act," said Hoadley.
Earlier this week, National Stonewall Democrats launched NoSubstitutes.org as an online organizing tool to allow individuals to ad their names to a growing list of Americans who support the original Employment Non-Discrimination Act. NSD has used its contacts with these individuals to begin scheduling in-district meetings with Members of Congress to urge support for the original bill.
Member organizations of United ENDA are communicating daily with Representatives to keep pressure on Congress. United ENDA will allow organizations to better coordinate lobbying strategies, grassroots mobilization efforts, online activism, media and legal strategies. The 150-plus organizations that share this position will continue to do their own lobbying, release their own statements and mobilize their own members, while the unified campaign will make sure that every organization has the latest information from Capitol Hill, the latest strategic plans and the most up-to-date reports from the grassroots.
www.NoSubstitutes.org
www.UnitedENDA.org
National Stonewall Democrats is the only national organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Democrats, with more than 90 local chapters across the nation. NSD is committed to working through the Democratic Party to advance the rights of all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
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