From: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 01 Aug 94 11:35:26 -0400 Eastern

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PRESS RELEASE            PRESS RELEASE            PRESS RELEASE
 
               THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND                    
 
The Nation's Largest Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Political Group   
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To contact the HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND, please call us at
(202)628-4160, fax us at (202) 347-5323 or write to us at PO Box
1396  Washington, DC  20013.  WE CANNOT RESOPND TO E-MAIL.  
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE         CONTACT:  Douglas Hattaway          
                                        202-628-4160 office                   
FRIDAY, JULY 29, 1994                   202-265-5573 home
 
       SENATE HOLDS HISTORIC HEARING ON LEGISLATION TO PROTECT
   AMERICANS FROM JOB DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION
 
        Meeting on Employment Non-Discrimination Act Marks First 
        Senate Hearing Ever on Equal Rights for Gays and Lesbians
                                    
     WASHINGTON -- A U.S. Senate hearing today on the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) marks the first Senate hearing ever
held on legislation that would extend any form of civil rights
protections to lesbian and gay Americans.  The Labor and Human
Resources Committee, chaired by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), heard
the stories of two people who suffered job discrimination on the
basis of their sexual orientation, as well as testimony from
business and labor leaders in support of the bill.  ENDA would
ban job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, which
is currently not prohibited under federal law.
 
     "This historic hearing marks an important milestone on the
road to equal employment rights for all Americans," said Tim
McFeeley, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign Fund
(HRCF).  "Some of the most important civil rights laws passed in
this half century began with hearings before this very committee,
which today discussed the problem of job discrimination against
lesbian and gay Americans.  Congress is giving serious
consideration to this bill, and the gay community must do its
part to show our elected representatives that this issue is of
vital importance."
 
     The Campaign Fund arranged the appearance of two key
witnesses in today's hearing:  Cheryl Summerville of Atlanta, who
was fired from her job at a Cracker Barrel restaurant, and Ernest
Dillon of Detroit, who was harassed and beaten at work.  To
educate lawmakers about the problem of anti-gay job
discrimination, the Campaign Fund's "Documenting Discrimination"
project also provided the committee with job discrimination cases
from around the country.
 
     "I worked hard at my job, and my reward was getting fired
for no good reason," Summerville told the committee.  "The right
to hold a job shouldn't be based on whether someone is black or
white, male or female, gay or straight.  It should be based on
ability and dedication.  I hope that you will take action to
ensure that people like me -- a fellow American -- can have the
same rights as everybody else."
 
     Dillon filed an Equal Employment Opportunity claim after he
was continually harassed and eventually attacked at work.  A
federal court dismissed his claim, stating that the
discrimination Dillon experienced was not prohibited by federal
civil rights laws.
 
     "I turned to my union, my supervisors, my doctor and the
court, only to find that, in America, I am not entitled to work
without fearing for my life," Dillon told the committee.  "I want
what every other American wants -- the ability to work, to be
treated fairly, to be judged by who I am, and to be free from
discrimination and harassment.  I look to Congress for leadership
in stopping the pain and prejudice, and in passing a federal law
to protect me."
 
      The Campaign Fund also recruited Warren Phillips, former
chief executive officer of Dow Jones & Co., to testify in favor
of the bill.  Other supporting witnesses included Stephen Holter,
executive vice president of Pacific Telesis; Richard Womack of
the AFL-CIO; and Chai Feldblum, a professor of law at the
Georgetown University Law Center.
 
     "It has been the law of the land that employment
discrimination is unacceptable based on race, gender, religion,
ethnic origin or other non-performance-related considerations,"
Phillips testified.  "It is time to include sexual orientation. 
It is the right thing to do.  It is the sensible thing to do.  It
is also the business-like thing to do."
 
     The legislation has 30 co-sponsors in the Senate and 120 in
the House of Representatives.  It is being championed by the
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the nation's leading civil
rights coalition representing more than 185 women's, labor,
religious, disability and civil rights organizations.  The
Leadership Conference has been the driving force behind every
major piece of civil rights legislation passed in the past half
century.
 
     "We are poised to take a major step forward in securing
equal rights in the workplace for lesbian and gay Americans,"
said Daniel Zingale, the Campaign Fund's public policy director. 
"We have unprecedented bipartisan support in Congress, as well as
the active participation of the American civil rights movement. 
Our job now is to educate the general public about the need for
this legislation and continue to build support in the House and
Senate."
 
     Readers can contact their Members of Congress by calling the
Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, or writing:
 
The Honorable__________________       The Honorable______________
U.S. House of Representatives         U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20515                  Washington, DC 20510
 
     For the names of local Senators and Representatives, call
the Human Rights Campaign Fund's Membership Services Department
at 202- 628-4160.  
 
     As the largest national lesbian and gay equal rights
organization, the Campaign Fund also offers two programs to help
people participate in the legislative process --  the Federal
Advocacy Network (FAN) and Speak Out.  FAN mobilizes grassroots
support with timely information for contacting federal officials
about legislative issues.  Speak Out sends strategically timed
and targeted messages to federal officials on behalf of people
enrolled in the program.
     
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     1101 14th Street, NW  Suite 200  Washington, DC  20005      
          phone:(202)628-4160      fax:(202) 347-5323