Florida Republican and Democratic Legislators Renew Attempt to Protect Against Gay Bias
Almost exactly a year ago–on Nov. 7, 2013–the U.S. Senate voted 64-32 to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The proposed law would have banned workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people (LGBT). Florida’s Bill Nelson, a Democrat, voted for it. Marco Rubio, a Republican, voted against. Nevertheless, 10 Republican senators joined 52 Democrats and two independents to vote approval. It was a rare show of bi-partisan support.
The legislation, which exempted religious institutions–including schools and shops with direct religious ties–never got a hearing in the GOP-dominated House, where Speaker John Boehner said he would oppose it.
“One party in one house of Congress should not stand in the way of millions of Americans who want to go to work each day and simply be judged by the job they do,” President Obama said in a statement at the time. “Now is the time to end this kind of discrimination in the workplace, not enable it.”