On Tuesday, May 18th, local LGBT groups rallied in front of the federal building in San Francisco to call on community members to contact their congressional representatives and urge them to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA. ENDA would ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Currently, it is legal in many states to discriminate against LGBT people and there are no federal laws protecting LGBT people in the workplace.

Community members, local groups, and politicians spoke about the importance of passing ENDA. Mason Davis of the Transgender Law Center cited a survey showing that 97% of transgender Americans experience employment discrimination and that they are twice as likely to experience poverty and unemployment as a result.

"For years now, hundreds of us have been working tirelessly...to make sure that ENDA would become a reality," Davis said. "In 2007, Congress told us that we needed to do the work to pass ENDA and we have been doing that work."

Davis reported that House speaker Nancy Pelosi has committed to making sure ENDA passes in the house in this congressional year. But community groups, politicians, and leaders are calling on everyone who cares about getting ENDA passed to contact their congressional representatives and urge them to pass the bill.

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