Senate approves bill to end antigay workplace bias

The Senate approved legislation Thursday that outlaws workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, demonstrating the nation's quickly evolving attitude toward gay rights nearly two decades after Congress rejected same-sex marriage. The bill’s fate is now in the hands of the Republican-led House of Representatives.

Fifty-four members of the Democratic majority and 10 Republicans voted for the first major gay rights bill since Congress repealed the ban on gays in the military three years ago. The vote in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act was 64-32.

Two opponents of a similar measure 17 years ago, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, backed the measure this time.

"We are about to make history in this chamber," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a chief sponsor of the bill, said shortly before the vote.

The enthusiasm of the bill's supporters was tempered by the reality that the Republican-led House, where conservatives have a firm grip on the agenda, is unlikely to even vote on the legislation. Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, maintains his long-standing opposition to the measure, arguing that it is unnecessary and certain to create costly, frivolous lawsuits for businesses.

Outside conservative groups have cast the bill as antifamily.

A number of Republican strategists, however, are convinced that their party must embrace gay rights for its own political good.

"It's largely a generational thing," said one party strategist. "Younger Republicans see no reason to discriminate against gays. They have friends who are gay."

President Barack Obama welcomed the vote and urged the House to act.

"One party in one house of Congress should not stand in the way of millions of Americans who want to go to work each day and simply be judged by the job they do," Obama said in a statement. "Now is the time to end this kind of discrimination in the workplace, not enable it."

Gay rights advocates hailed the Senate passage as a major victory in a momentous year. The Supreme Court in June granted federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples, though it avoided a sweeping ruling that would have paved the way for same-sex unions nationwide. Illinois is on the verge of becoming the 15th state to legalize gay marriage.

Supporters called the bill the final step in a long congressional tradition of trying to stop discrimination. It comes nearly 50 years after the enactment of the Civil Rights Act and 23 years after the Americans With Disabilities Act.

"Now we've finished the trilogy," Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, a chief sponsor of the disabilities law, said at a Capitol Hill news conference.

The first openly gay senator, Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., called the vote a "tremendous milestone" that she will always remember throughout her time in the Senate.

In the chamber, opponents of the legislation remained mute through three days of debate, with no lawmaker speaking out. That changed on Thursday, as Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., said the legislation would force employers to violate their religious beliefs, a direct counter to rights embodied in the Constitution.

"There's two types of discrimination here we're dealing with, and one of those goes to the very fundamental right granted to every American through our Constitution, a cherished value of freedom of expression and religion," Coats said.

The Senate rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., that would have expanded the number of groups covered under the measure's religious exemption. Opponents argued that it would undermine the core bill.

If the House fails to act on the bill, gay rights advocates are likely to press Obama to act unilaterally and issue an executive order barring antigay workplace discrimination by federal contractors.

Backers of the bill repeatedly described it as an issue of fairness.

"It is well past time that we, as elected representatives, ensure that our laws protect against discrimination in the workplace for all individuals, that we ensure ... some protections for those within the LGBT community," said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

Current federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, race and national origin. But it doesn't stop an employer from firing or refusing to hire workers because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

The bill would bar employers with 15 or more workers from using a person's sexual orientation or gender identity as the basis for making employment decisions, including hiring, firing, compensation and promotion. It would exempt religious institutions and the military.

Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have approved laws banning workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and 17 of those also prohibit employers from discriminating based on gender identity.

About 88 percent of Fortune 500 companies have adopted nondiscrimination policies that include sexual orientation, according to the gay rights advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign. About 57 percent of those companies include gender identity.

Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., did not vote.

Wire services