Gay Activists Hopeful on Job Bias Ban

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., asks a question a committee's hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, in this July 18, 2007 file photo. Frank, a leading proponent of a federal ban on job discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender workers and one of two openly gay members of Congress, expects the ban will win House approval in the coming weeks. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) (Susan Walsh - AP)

"It is affording extra protection to a group that has not been disadvantaged," said Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs for the Family Research Council, a socially conservative group.

GOP Senate leaders are expected to oppose the measure, McClusky said. President Bush has not said where he stands.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., plans to introduce Senate legislation this month proposing a discrimination ban.

"It's always harder to pass bills in the Senate than in the House, but until we pass this bill, there will be a gaping hole in federal civil rights legislation," said Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a leading gay rights group, said the ban's Senate supporters would have momentum if the House approves the bill.

The Log Cabin Republicans, a gay-Republican group, said the ban is an easier sell than more controversial issues such as gay marriage.

"It's a matter of basic fairness that the overwhelming majority of the American people and Republicans support," said Log Cabin president Patrick Sammon. "We're on firmer ground on this issue, so I think we've got a stronger case to make to Republican members of Congress."

Gay rights supporters were heartened when Democrats won control of Congress last fall.

A bipartisan bill was introduced in April by Reps. Frank; Christopher Shays, R-Conn.; Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio; and Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat who is openly gay. There are 167 co-sponsors, including a handful of Republicans.

A ban was first proposed in the House in 1994. Republicans had not permitted votes on similar measures while they controlled the House in past years. In the Senate, a bill failed by one vote in 1996.

Sammon said even if ban backers fall short of the 60 votes needed to break procedural roadblocks expected from Senate opponents, it would mark progress.

"Let's have a vote, let's have a count and see where we're at," Sammon said. "If we end up getting 54 or 53 or even 48, we know where we stand and we can figure out how to get more votes in the future."

The House earlier this year voted to expand hate crime categories to include violent attacks against gays and people targeted because of gender. Similar legislation is pending in the Senate. The White House has threatened a veto.

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On the Net:

Read the House bill, H.R. 2015, at http://thomas.loc.gov/