Letter to the Washington Post
There is no doubt in my mind that both houses of Congress can and should pass a fully inclusive nondiscrimination law that includes transgender Americans. A story by Mary Ann Akers in yesterday’s online edition of the Washington Post (“Transgender, gay workers’ civil rights promoted in Employment Non-Discrimination Act bill”) unfairly exploits and sensationalizes the vulnerability of transgender Americans, who face discrimination in the workplace at unimaginable levels. If any other segment of our citizenry faced this kind of prejudice we would have outlawed it long ago.
Allowing an organization like the Traditional Values Coalition to spew its lies and distortions in a paper of your caliber is simply not acceptable. It provides a “false balance” that the opinions of reasonable individuals are comparable to those of an organization that has been derided as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. ENDA does nothing more than create a level playing field for all Americans. People should be judged for the quality of their work, not tired stereotypes and mistruths that distort and mislead.
Transgender Americans – in fact, all Americans – deserve better.
Sincerely,
Joe Solmonese
President