Human Rights Campaign releases its 111th Congress legislative plan: 'Roadmap for Congressional Action'

Today HRC officially released its comprehensive legislative plan that outlines our goals and expectations for LGBT-related legislation in the 111th Congress. We’re calling the plan our “Roadmap for Congressional Action.”

The Roadmap gives an overview of how we’ll be working to get Congress to act on the issues that touch our daily lives, such as community safety, family protections, workplace protections, health, military service, education and immigration. 

Here’s just a few of our immediate priorities that are detailed in the report: 

•    Enact Hate Crimes Legislation By Summer:  Nationwide, a violent crime motivated by bigotry takes place every hour of every day.  These crimes affect not just victims, but entire communities because they send the message that some people are neither welcome nor safe simply because of who they are. 

•    Family Protections: Lesbian and Gay couples are denied over 1,100 benefits at the federal level, even if they are married in their home states. HRC has worked to chip away at that inequality for more than six years, achieving progress in protecting families’ retirement savings.  During the 111th Congress, we will work vigorously to accelerate that progress by targeting seven specific goals.

•    Enact a Fully-Inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act:  After 15 years, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act had its first successful vote Congress in 2007, passing the House by a vote of 235-184.  The same year, a version of ENDA covering both sexual orientation and gender identity was introduced for the first time, gaining 184 co-sponsors in the House. HRC believes that passage of a fully inclusive ENDA during the 111th Congress is possible. 

•    Health Care Reform:   As health care reform takes center stage, HRC will work to ensure that the critical needs of LGBT people and couples, as well as people with HIV/AIDS, are part of those health proposals.  Learn more by reading the full plan.

•    Establish a Timetable and Plan to Repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”:  In 2008, Congress held its first hearing to assess the damage wrought by the wrong-headed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy.  In the 111th Congress, HRC will continue to build support for the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (MREA), which would replace DADT with a policy of nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation.  And we will urge President Obama to direct the Pentagon to establish a clear plan for implementing a repeal.  Learn more by reading the full plan.

•    Support Efforts to pass the Safe Schools Improvement Act:  First introduced in the 109th Congress, the Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA) would address the pervasive problem of bullying of LGBT students by amending the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act.  In the 111th Congress, HRC will continue to work with a broad coalition of groups to advance this legislation.  Learn more by reading the full plan.

•    Work to pass the Uniting American Families Act:  Under current law, U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents may sponsor their different-sex spouses and other immediate family members for immigration.  But same-sex partners are not eligible, causing thousands of lesbian and gay bi-national couples to be kept or torn apart.  The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) would remedy this injustice.  Learn more by reading the full plan.

As you can see, we obviously have our work cut out for us. That “we” includes you and me–and everyone we know–if we really want to accomplish these goals. The encouraging news is that we worked hard during the elections to send more people to Congress who will be allies on our issues. On election night, we saw many of our most vicious opponents, like Marilyn Musgrave, defeated and sent back to their home districts.  And now we finally have a president who has signaled that he will stand with us and sign our bills into law.  Our path through Congress to secure these rights won’t be short or easy – but we’ve never been in a better position to see our issues at the forefront of the national agenda.