Subject: NGLTF Commends Clinton
From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 15:14:35 -0400

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National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
PRESS STATEMENT

Contact:          Beth Barrett       (202) 332-6483 ext. 3215
                      [email-masked]   

2320 17th Street NW   Washington, DC   20009
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NGLTF COMMENDS PRESIDENTIAL ENDA ENDORSEMENT

Washington, DC -- October 20, 1995 --  Yesterday, President Clinton
distributed a letter announcing his support for the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act, a bill in Congress that would ban employment
discrimination based on sexual orientation.  The occasion marked the first
time a president had directly supported a gay and lesbian civil rights bill
while in office.  The following statement is attributable to Helen Gonzales,
NGLTF Public Policy Director.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force commends President Clinton for his
recent endorsement of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which
would outlaw employment discrimination based on sexual orientation against
America's workers.  The President's support of ENDA places him firmly with
the majority of Americans who support equal rights for lesbian, gay and
bisexual people in the workplace.

Many non-gay Americans are unaware of this painful fact: no matter how well
members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities perform our
jobs, we can be fired simply for being who we are.  Nine states and a handful
of municipalities have already recognized this injustice, passing laws or
issuing executive orders to right this wrong.  But without local action, only
a federal law such as ENDA can remedy this injustice.

Even when local activists succeed in their efforts to ban discrimination
against gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in their local
communities, they must often contend with well organized and financed right
wing attacks against them.  NGLTF has traveled over 150,000 miles to some 30
states and 50 cities to assist local organizers in the fight against anti-gay
ballot initiatives which would repeal such legislation.

Thus, it is notable that the President has made this pledge of support at a
pivotal moment in gay and lesbian history.  Only a week after the US Supreme
Court heard arguments concerning Colorado's Amendment 2 and a few weeks
before the citizens of Maine determine the fate of an anti-gay ballot
initiative in that state, it is our hope that the President's message of
equality and fairness will ring across the country.

We encourage President Clinton to utilize all resources available to his
Office to move ENDA forward.  NGLTF challenges the President to continue to
speak out loudly and clearly against any and all discrimination - on the
floor of Congress, in local and state ballot measures, and where-ever
injustice is found.

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