Equality Iowa

Three members of the Des Moines based Transgender group, Transformations Iowa, recently went to the second annual TransOhio conference in Columbia, Ohio. The conference was held at the Columbia Law University in downtown Columbia.

The conference drew over 160 guests from all over the region, from Iowa to New York. Among the presenters were some nationally recognized names.

The keynote speaker for the weekend was Helen Boyd, author of “my husband Betty”. Helen writes, speaks and teaches courses aimed at the significant others and family of transgendered people. Watching her husband go through the process of transition, Helen has become a remarkably insightful and strongly out spoken ally for the entire LGBT community.

Mara Keisling, director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, gave a wonderfully informative speech at the conference, and a witty stand up routine at the Wall Street club later that night. She is truly a woman of many talents.

Also presenting were Dr. Christine McGin, a noted surgeon, Tamara McKenzie Allison, a prominent Columbia Lawyer and Barbie Rogers, noted intersex activist. The presentations were high quality and very informative.

The community of TransOhio was friendly and welcoming, taking conference participants to two different clubs and a nice brunch on Sunday before things wound down. We were treated to a wonderful stand up comedy show by Mara and Karen Patrick, as well as a powerfully moving show by drag king Adam Apple. It was an amazing time for all.

As one of the Iowa contingent, this weekend also brought home to me just how lucky I am to live in Iowa. We live in a great state with clean air, marriage equality and many civil rights that others, even in progressive cities like Columbia, struggle for. We came home with many new ideas, but also a deeper appreciation for the state and community we had left behind.

ENDA MAIN POINTS

The Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It creates express protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people similar to those available under existing federal discrimination laws for other protected classes of workers.

Workplace protections for LGBT people are urgently needed and long overdue. The President has promised to sign this bill. All we need now is for Congress to act.

Statistics:

• 12 states and more than 100 localities have LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination protections, covering nearly 40 percent of Americans.
• According to numerous surveys, substantial majorities of likely voters in the U.S. support an inclusive federal employment non-discrimination law.
• More than 150 of Fortune 500 companies have enacted nondiscrimination policies protecting LGBT workers.

Millions of LGBT workers are unprotected. Everyday an LGBT person remains invisible on the job or suffers open harassment and discrimination based on who they are. Passing ENDA will go a long way to rectify this inequity and indignity.

Passage of this critical legislation would help ensure every employee has a level playing field in the workplace; ENDA reflects the core American values of treating people fairly and ensuring everyone gets a fair shake.

We look forward to the day when LGBT people no longer have to fear the loss of their jobs on the basis of their sexual orientation or their gender identity. When that day comes, America will have taken another step forward in assuring justice and equality for all.

For more information go to www.unitedenda.org.