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Late Breaking News |
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| Date: August 3, 1998 1:19 pm Contact: Human Rights Campaign |
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Latest News Releases
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House Vote On Anti-Gay Hefley Amendment To Overturn Clinton Executive Order Banning Job Discrimination Expected Today; Vote For Hefley Amendment Is A Vote To Legalize Discrimination, Asserts HRC | ||
| WASHINGTON - August 4 - The House is scheduled to vote today on the
Hefley Amendment to the Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations bill which seeks to
overturn President Clinton's May 28th executive order banning workplace discrimination
based on sexual orientation. The passage of this bill would go against public
opinion which recent polls show is overwhelmingly in favor of job protection for gay
Americans, according to the Human Rights Campaign. "This is a flagrant bid to placate religious political extremists who have threatened to leave the GOP unless they adopt more strident positions on social issues. The Hefley Amendment is indicative of the stranglehold the Far Right currently has over certain elements of the GOP," said HRC executive director Elizabeth Birch. "A vote for the Hefley Amendment is a vote for legalizing discrimination, which most Americans adamantly oppose. Republicans, Democrats, and independents in Congress do not want to add the official stamp of approval for anti-gay workplace discrimination in federal agencies," said HRC political director Winnie Stachelberg. The Hefley amendment, sponsored by Rep. Joel Hefley (R-CO), is not in line with public opinion. A new poll released by HRC and conducted by the polling firm Penn, Schoen, and Berland shows 64 percent of Americans said they are against Congress overturning the executive order, compared to only 28 percent who support overturning the discrimination ban. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released last week reaffirms the HRC findings with 72 percent of the American public supporting President Clinton's Executive Order against anti-gay bias in federal agencies. An April, 1997 poll conducted for the Human Rights Campaign by the Tarrance Group, shows that eighty percent of the American public says that homosexuals should have equal rights in terms of job opportunities. Before this executive order was issued, many federal agencies had their own separate policies banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. This often led to confusion amongst government workers as to whether or not they were protected. Contrary to the claims of the GOP leadership, this executive order helps clarify the law for government workers by bringing uniformity to existing anti-discrimination policies across the federal government. The order adds sexual orientation to the list of protected categories for which discrimination is already prohibited, i.e., race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap and age. In issuing the order, Clinton noted that this policy does not add any new enforcement rights, such as the ability of a civilian federal worker to appeal an anti-gay job discrimination case before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Human Rights Campaign is the nation's largest national lesbian and gay political organization, with members throughout the country, effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support, and educates the public to ensure that lesbian and gay Americans can be open, honest, and safe at home, at work, and in the community. - 30 - |
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