Washington Blade editor Chris Crain takes aim at the Human Rights Campaign and its allies over their decision to oppose any version of the proposed federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that doesn't also bar private employers from discriminating against the transgendered as well as gays and lesbians. As Crain notes, "Courts have already ruled that existing federal and state laws that protect against gender bias protect transgendered people. Those rulings aren't universal, but they offer more federal protection than gays currently enjoy."
I'd add that a sweeping federal prohibition against "gender identity and expression" workplace discrimination arguably forces employers to alter dress codes to allow any manner of gender discordant attire (i.e., a bearded man wearing a dress to work). Anyway, that's how it will be perceived, and it will make ENDA unpassable.
I'm no fan of ENDA -- federal anti-discrimination laws have
opened the gates to a flood of frivolous lawsuits, forcing
employers to pay off plaintiffs because defending themselves is
prohibitively expensive. But HRC and liberal-left gays do
think ENDA is significant, and they've just made sure they'll never
get it.