Pride at Work, the queer constituency group of the AFL-CIO, is asking people to send messages to their representatives in support of ENDA, which would outlaw most discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

www.unionvoice.org/campaign/pawenda

Pride at Work is not alone in the labor movement. The following is the statement of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Executive Vice President Mary Kay Henry on the Introduction of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

When members of the GLBT community are denied job opportunities, fired, or passed over for promotion because of their sexual orientation or identity, everybody loses. Employers lose out on workers that would contribute invaluably to a product or trade. Employees are denied the opportunity to work in an open and diverse environment that prioritizes the free flow of ideas over fear. Society is manipulated by the hands of a powerful few, denied the chance to decide for itself the worth of an individual person.

The Service Employees International Union represents more than 1.8 million working people united by the belief in the dignity and worth of workers and the services they provide. We are dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their families and creating a more just and humane society.

The American Dream celebrates the promise of mobility rooted in hard work and competence, not in an identity litmus test. When all people can go to work confident that their performance will be evaluated on its merits and not through the fog of fear-based discrimination, everybody wins.