That's the ENDA that

I put off writing something about ENDA in the hopes that my anger about it would subside. It hasn't, so I'm going to post anyway. But I'm not going to invest this post with a lot of vitriol. Suffice it to say that I am very, VERY pissed about the version of ENDA that has passed the House of Representatives. Why? Because once again, I and every other person who identifies as some form of gender-variant individual have been excluded from even the meager protections offered by this ENDA. I am especially angry with Rep. Barney Frank and with the Human Rights Campaign.

I'm mad at Frank because despite the good he has done for his home state of Massachusetts, he is still a transphobic gay man way too invested in his position of white male privilege. He's the one who stripped protection for transgendered persons from ENDA. And why is it that his home state of Massachusetts, which has had full rights for gay and lesbian citizens - including marriage rights - for some time now still has no protection for transgender citizens? So much for "As soon as we get there, we'll come back for you."

And I'm mad at HRC for pulling a massive bait-and-switch operation on the transgendered community at large. Despite repeated reassurances to us trannies for months that they would never support an ENDA that did not include transgender protections, at the beginning of this week HRC gave their full support to an ENDA that did not include transgender protections. I understand that LGB folks are humans but I thought that when HRC named themselves the HUMAN Rights Campaign, they meant ALL humans. But hey, if a fully-inclusive ENDA ever did become law (which even this watered-down version won't) HRC would be out of a job, wouldn't they?

For a lot more opinions and anger and stuff, check out all the posts on ENDA at Pam's House Blend. I'm gonna stop now. But I'm still really, REALLY, REALLY pissed.