Most of the Mass delegation to support ENDA with or without Baldwin amendment

If the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) does come up for a vote on the House floor, most members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation have pledged to support it whether or not it includes an amendment by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) to ban discrimination based on gender identity as well as sexual orientation. The only lawmaker to express ambivalence about supporting ENDA without the gender identity language was Congressman Stephen Lynch, who during his initial run for the Ninth District seat in 2001 had been viewed with suspicion by LGBT advocates due to his socially conservative record during his tenure in the state Senate. He publicly softened his stance on LGBT issues during his run for Congress, openly supporting civil unions and domestic partner benefits, and with his statement on ENDA he appears to have gone a step farther, aligning himself more closely with the position of the United ENDA coalition than any of his colleagues from the Bay State. United ENDA has urged the defeat of ENDA if it does not include protections based on gender identity, and Lynch told Bay Windows that if the Baldwin amendment failed by a slim number of votes, he would consider delaying a vote on ENDA until proponents of the amendment could pick up the remaining votes needed to pass it.

"I am very supportive of ENDA and I have been on the record in support of ENDA since I arrived in Congress. I have asked to be listed as a cosponsor of Tammy Baldwin's amendment to include protections for transgender citizens and I will certainly vote for the amendment. Obviously if the amendment succeeds I will offer my unconditional support for passage. However, if the Baldwin amendment to include transgender protection in the bill fails, I will face a dilemma," wrote Lynch in a statement to Bay Windows. "If the amendment fails by just a few votes it may be worthwhile to hold out and try to pick up the remaining votes. But if the Baldwin amendment loses by a large margin it will indicate that we still have a lot of work to do to educate people on the transgender issue. In that case I am inclined to vote for ENDA with just protection for gay and lesbian workers. As has been my past practice, I will consult with Congressman [Barney] Frank as we move forward on this."

Frank, who supports the Baldwin amendment, has publicly argued that there are not enough votes in the House to pass a trans-inclusive ENDA and that in the short term the House should vote on an ENDA bill that only covers sexual orientation.

Most of Frank's fellow Bay State members of Congress also support the Baldwin amendment, but like Frank they are willing to vote for ENDA even if it fails. Reps. John Olver, James McGovern, Niki Tsongas, Ed Markey and Mike Capuano all told Bay Windows that they support the Baldwin amendment but that they would support ENDA with or without the Baldwin amendment.

"[Olver] will vote for it if the amendment fails. He's a cosponsor on the bill. But he's a supporter of the Baldwin amendment. That's definitely his Plan A," said Sara Merriam, a spokesperson for Olver.

Tsongas connected her support for ENDA to her late husband's own trailblazing work on gay rights in the Senate.

"My late husband, Paul Tsongas, was the first U.S. Senator to introduce legislation to ban job discrimination based on sexual orientation. That was in 1979. I agreed with him then and I feel just as strongly about championing similar measures today. I will strongly support Rep. Frank's Employment Non-Discrimination Act," wrote Tsongas in a statement. "And, I would also support the Baldwin amendment. We need to have the most comprehensive protections possible, and the Baldwin amendment would make a good bill better. However, if the House does not vote to include the Baldwin amendment, I will still vote for final passage of the ENDA bill. I believe that we need to move forward on an agenda that rolls back years of discrimination, and passage of ENDA would be a good start."

Congressman John Tierney told Bay Windows that he will also support ENDA regardless of whether or not the Baldwin amendment passes. As to whether he will support the amendment itself, Tierney declined to answer, saying the fate and the language of the bill are "in flux."

"When I last heard, prospect was that there may be no vote on the Baldwin amendment, and final language of the Baldwin amendment is in flux, if it is to be presented," wrote Tierney in a statement.

Two members of the Massachusetts House delegation did not respond to repeated requests to learn their position on ENDA and the Baldwin amendment: Congressmen Richard Neal and William Delahunt.