To illustrate why Congress must pass the Employment Non Discrimination Act (ENDA), a federal law that would ban discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the workplace, we will be posting the firsthand accounts of people from across the nation who have been fired, refused a job, or harassed in the workplace because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This summer the ACLU put out a call for stories, and these are just a fraction of stories we received.

Earlier this week, the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on the recently introduced Employment Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 3017). This legislation, which now has the bipartisan support of 178 members of the House of Representatives, would prohibit employment discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation (which remains legal in 29 states) and gender identity (which remains legal in 38 states). This patchwork quilt of protections simply will not suffice when it comes to protecting peoples’ basic civil rights. There is a clear and compelling need for a federal ENDA.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act is coming, but we need your help to make sure that state and local government employees are covered...