NY Times on ENDA: "People who believe in workplace fairness should lobby senators to get on board"

It looks like we have the votes in the House to pass ENDA. We need more committed votes in the Senate. Majority Leader Harry Reid vowed to get ENDA passed in this Congress. So, far, besides the original sponsor, Senator Jeff Merkley ()D-OR), there are currently 38 co-sponsors of the Senate bill with no new co-sponsors since Congress reconvened. We need those Senate votes. Reid isn't a cosponsor, but obviously supports the legislation. So, we need at least 20 more Senate votes.

From the NY Times:

Bipartisan bills have been introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, modeled on existing civil rights laws that cover race, religion and sex. Unlike some past bills, these include gender identity, protecting transgender people from discrimination.

The bills were written to meet some of the concerns of opponents. The law would not apply to religious organizations, or to businesses with fewer than 15 employees. It would not allow for quotas or “disparate impact” lawsuits, which generally use statistical disparities to prove discrimination.

There is reason for cautious optimism. In 2007, the House passed a nondiscrimination law that did not cover transgender people. The current Congress is more Democratic, and even in the past two years, gay rights have made significant strides. As states and localities have passed antidiscrimination laws, it has been clear that they do not disrupt the workplace, and they have not resulted in an enormous number of lawsuits.

Supporters in the House think they have the votes. The biggest hurdle is likely to be winning the support of 60 senators, the de facto number now required for most legislation because of filibuster rules.

People who believe in workplace fairness should lobby senators to get on board. It is unacceptable that in a nation committed to equality people can still be fired in more than half the states for being gay. Congressional leaders should make passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act a top priority.

So start working on Senators.

There's a full list of sponsors of S. 1584, the Senate ENDA bill, after the break. If your Senator isn't on the list, call them. And, write them. Then, call them again.

Here's the current list of co-sponsors for S. 1584, introduced by Senator Merkley:

Sen Akaka, Daniel K. [HI] - 8/5/2009
Sen Bingaman, Jeff [NM] - 8/5/2009
Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA] - 8/5/2009
Sen Brown, Sherrod [OH] - 8/5/2009
Sen Burris, Roland [IL] - 8/5/2009
Sen Cantwell, Maria [WA] - 8/5/2009
Sen Cardin, Benjamin L. [MD] - 8/5/2009
Sen Casey, Robert P., Jr. [PA] - 8/5/2009
Sen Collins, Susan M. [ME] - 8/5/2009
Sen Dodd, Christopher J. [CT] - 8/5/2009
Sen Durbin, Richard [IL] - 8/5/2009
Sen Feingold, Russell D. [WI] - 8/5/2009
Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] - 8/5/2009
Sen Franken, Al [MN] - 8/5/2009
Sen Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [NY] - 8/5/2009
Sen Harkin, Tom [IA] - 8/5/2009
Sen Inouye, Daniel K. [HI] - 8/5/2009
Sen Kennedy, Edward M. [MA] - 8/5/2009
Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] - 8/5/2009
Sen Klobuchar, Amy [MN] - 8/5/2009
Sen Kohl, Herb [WI] - 8/5/2009
Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. [NJ] - 8/5/2009
Sen Leahy, Patrick J. [VT] - 8/5/2009
Sen Levin, Carl [MI] - 8/5/2009
Sen Lieberman, Joseph I. [CT] - 8/5/2009
Sen Menendez, Robert [NJ] - 8/5/2009
Sen Mikulski, Barbara A. [MD] - 8/5/2009
Sen Murray, Patty [WA] - 8/5/2009
Sen Reed, Jack [RI] - 8/5/2009
Sen Sanders, Bernard [VT] - 8/5/2009
Sen Schumer, Charles E. [NY] - 8/5/2009
Sen Shaheen, Jeanne [NH] - 8/5/2009
Sen Snowe, Olympia J. [ME] - 8/5/2009
Sen Specter, Arlen [PA] - 8/5/2009
Sen Stabenow, Debbie [MI] - 8/6/2009
Sen Udall, Mark [CO] - 8/5/2009
Sen Udall, Tom [NM] - 8/5/2009
Sen Whitehouse, Sheldon [RI] - 8/5/2009
Sen Wyden, Ron [OR] - 8/5/2009

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How Islamist gangs use the Internet to track, torture and kill Iraqi gays - can any hackers out there help?

Horrific story from the Guardian about how Iraqi militias are now trying to weed out the gays. The problem only developed after we invaded.

Sitting on the floor, wearing traditional Islamic clothes and holding an old notebook, Abu Hamizi, 22, spends at least six hours a day searching internet chatrooms linked to gay websites. He is not looking for new friends, but for victims.

"It is the easiest way to find those people who are destroying Islam and who want to dirty the reputation we took centuries to build up," he said. When he finds them, Hamizi arranges for them to be attacked and sometimes killed.

There must be some computer geeks, hacker types, out there who can find this guy, these guys - find the thugs, I mean - and help us publicize who they are, where they live, etc. Let's turn the tables on them. Expose them.

The killings are brutal, with victims ritually tortured. Azhar al-Saeed's son was one. "He didn't follow what Islamic doctrine tells but he was a good son," she said. "Three days after his kidnapping, I found a note on my door with blood spread over it and a message saying it was my son's purified blood and telling me where to find his body."

She went with police to find her son's remains. "We found his body with signs of torture, his anus filled with glue and without his genitals," she said. "I will carry this image with me until my dying day."

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