Date: Fri, 21 Jul 1995 11:17:37 -0400 From: Mary Ann Murphy Following is this month's sample letter on a lesbian gay issue. Please do let us know of any letters or messages you send or calls that you make in response to this action alert. You may cross-post this message. It is to be sent to your Representative in Congress July 17, 1995 The Hon. The U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Representative I am writing this letter to urge you to co-sponsor H.R. 1863, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Your support for this badly needed legislation is extremely important to everyone in the gay, lesbian and bisexual community and its supporters. As of June 16, 1995, 120 members of the House of Representatives (including 25 from the California delegation) have chosen to co-sponsor this legislation, and 30 Senators (including Senators Boxer and Feinstein) have co-sponsored S. 932, the Senate version of this bill. Job discrimination against gays, lesbians and bisexuals clearly does exist, and will not end until it is prohibited by law. ENDA would prohibit discrimination in employment and would add sexual orientation to the protections already provided under current federal law with regard to race, religion, sex, national origin, age and disability. Without this federal protection it is very difficult for a gay, lesbian or bisexual person to fight discrimination in seeking employment. A 1994 Newsweek poll indicated that "74 percent of all Americans favor protecting gays from job discrimination." A poll sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign Fund on November 8, 1994 showed strong support for equal employment protections, including 64 percent of Republicans, 77 percent of Democrats and 71 percent of independents polled. In spite of the strong conservative sweep in the 1994 elections, all of the Senators who supported last year's version of ENDA were re-elected, and 110 of the 120 members of the House of Representatives who had supported ENDA were re-elected. Clearly, the voters demonstrated that they do not oppose employment protection for gays, lesbians and bisexuals. In closing, I hope you change your mind and agree to co-sponsor ENDA. Please let me hear of your decision on this matter. Yours truly,