The Williams Institute

In considering versions of ENDA from 1994 to 2007, Congress has specifically considered unconstitutional discrimination by state, local, and federal employers against LGBT people. Direct victims of such discrimination have testified at Congressional hearings; legal scholars have presented specific cases as well as scholarship on the history and continuing legacy of such discrimination; social scientists have presented survey data and other studies documenting such discrimination; LGBT rights organizations have submitted reports and expert testimony documenting such discrimination; and members of Congress have shared specific examples and spoken more generally about such discrimination. In total, over 67 specific examples of employment discrimination against LGBT people by public employers have been presented to Congress in prior years, including discrimination involving 13 state employees, 14 teachers, 12 public safety officers, 2 other local employees, and 26 federal employees. Table 4-A briefly summarizes some of the testimony and other references to such discrimination that Congress has considered over the past fifteen years.