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EqSD Meets with Congressional Staff About ENDA

Monday, 31 August 2009 13:28

Thirteen Equality South Dakota members gathered in the three district
offices of U.S. Senator Tim Johnson on August 26 to engage in a joint
conference call with staffers in Sen. Johnson's and Rep. Herseth Sandlin's
Washington DC offices.  EqSD stressed the necessity to have Congress pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).  The EqSD group meet with Erin Barry of Sen. Johnson's office and Josh Albert of Rep. Herseth Sandlin's office.

Pictured above are EqSD members in Sen. Johnson's Sioux Falls and Aberdeen offices.

Greg Kniffen, chair of EqSD Institute, provided the staffers with basic facts on ENDA, which would provide job discrimination protection for LGBT people.  For more information on ENDA, click here.

Dave Eisenbraun, a South Dakota native now living in Albuquerque NM, shared his experience of being fired from his job with a private employer in Rapid City when his employer discovered he was gay.  The firing occurred two weeks after Eisenbraun received a superior job performance rating in 2005.  An attorney informed Eisenbraun that since South Dakota does not have workplace protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, there was no recourse.  Eisenbraun stated he would like to move back to South Dakota with his partner but is very hesitant to do so without there being either a federal or state law that protects LGBT employees in the workplace.

David Fischer of Aberdeen shared his feelings of fear about losing his job because of his sexual orientation.  When Fischer came out publicly, he did not lose his job and he felt more at ease that he didn't have to hide his private life at work.  Fischer stated there are a lot of LGBT people who remain closeted at their work jobs because of the fear of being fired.

Pam Miller, one of the founders of Sioux Falls PFLAG, thanked Sen. Johnson and Rep. Herseth Sandlin for voting for the recent Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes bill which was passed by Congress and signed into law.  Angie Buhl, a consultant with EqSD Institute, highlighted that there is community support for equality.  She stated that EqSD was able to mobilize the straight and LGBT communities to submit more than ten letters of support for the hate crimes bill versus each letter of opposition that
appeared in newspapers.

Karen Mudd, chair of EqSD, discussed a poll that EqSD conducted last October.  The poll revealed that 77% of South Dakotans were in favor of having Congress pass ENDA while just 13% were opposed. Mudd also discussed EqSD's work with private employers in South Dakota and the great accomplishments in getting employers to add sexual orientation and gender identity to their non-discrimination policies.  The staffers were provided with EqSD's Champion Employers list, which you can find by clicking here.

Albert added that Rep. Herseth Sandlin voted for the ENDA bill in the
2007 Congress.  The bill has not come up for a vote in the Senate in previous years.

The call concluded with EqSD urging both Sen. Johnson and Rep. Herseth
Sandlin to not only vote for ENDA but to also sign on as co-sponsors of the
bill.

Please let Sens. Johnson and Thune and Rep. Herseth Sandlin know you support diversity in the work place.  Click on the above links to send a brief email to them encouraing them to co-sponsor ENDA.  They've heard from us, but hearing from people like you would go a long way.

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