On January 7, 2008, the New Jersey General Assembly passed A4591/S2975 by a large majority of 65-10. This follows action last week in the state Senate where the bill passed unanimously 35-0. The law that passed will now go to Governor Corzine's desk for his expected signature.

NCTE has released a new guide for transgender individuals who have received a letter under the Social Security Administration's unfair gender "no-match" employment letter policy.

Our work includes many outreach activities and writings. In one such activity, our current president, Vivian Benge, wrote a blog post for , an LGBT blog, about change in the Department of Homeland Security's "no match" policy. This post has been picked up by the Washington Blade.

See the post on the Washington Blade website in the right-hand column. Read the post over at Bilerico.com.

The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) has agreed to immediately discontinue using gender mismatches solely as a reason for invalidating driver licenses. INTRAA and the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) successfully worked with officials at the Indiana BMV to bring about this policy change. The BMV has confirmed that they will no longer be issuing these letters, nor will they follow through with any warnings sent in letters previously issued.

November 20, 2007
DHS Drops New "No Match" Enforcement Procedures

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has dropped its attempt at enforcing their new "No Match" enforcement procedures, issued in mid-August. The enforcement procedures encountered obstacles from the beginning with a lawsuit by labor and immigration groups blocking the rule's progress only a couple weeks after their issuance. During the rule's open-comment period, many organizations, including NCTE, filed comments opposing adoption of the rules, arguing that the procedures would unfairly jeopardize workers' jobs. To read NCTE's comments, click here.

The White House has released a statement describing reasoning for supporting a Presidential veto of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act HR 3685.

The House has postponed the vote on ENDA that was scheduled to take place this week. This means that while we were initially working on a very tight deadline to make contacts and that we had a specific date in mind, now we have more time to make much needed contacts with our key Indiana targets. Of course, you should continue to contact your Representative (yes, even if you have already!), but making contact with
Joe Donnelly (202) 225-3915
Brad Ellsworth (202) 225-4636
and Baron Hill (202) 225-5315
is especially important. If you are at all inclined to pick up the phone, place a call to one of these Representatives first.

GENDER-IDENTITY INCLUSIVENESS IN ENDA -- (House of Representatives - October 23, 2007)

---

Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, later on this week or perhaps early next week, this House will embark on the latest chapter in our Nation's history of extending the civil rights that all Americans should be entitled to to one other group. We will be considering the Employment Nondiscrimination Act. It is an effort to make sure that people are not discriminated against in their workplace because of their sexual orientation, because of their gender identity. It is something that is intuitive to so many Americans, and, frankly, the overwhelming number of Americans. And it is an example of how sometimes we in this House lead on civil rights issues and sometimes we follow.

I have always been a strong supporter of guaranteeing full civil rights for all in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. My work on this issue will continue until these protections become law.

I strongly support H.R. 2015, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007. For many years, I have worked closely and tirelessly with people in the LGBT community and our allies to build support for this important legislation. I have personally spoken with well over one hundred Congressional colleagues, explaining the importance of this particular bill, listening to their concerns, and answering their questions. As a result of all of our work, and that of Congressional supporters, 171 Members of Congress have co-sponsored the legislation, authored by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), which protects not only gays, lesbians and bisexuals, but also provides equally strong prohibitions against discrimination based on gender identity.

October 03, 2007

A statement from Donna Rose in response to the recently announced Human Rights Campaign position on ENDA:

Community. Integrity. Leadership. Vision. These are the foundational pillars of Equality. These are the values that draw many of us into advocacy roles. Those tenets provide a clear roadmap when things like politics, expediency, agenda, and power cloud the picture as they so often do. They pave the way to the moral high-ground, and those who follow them with trust and patience will ultimately find their efforts rewarded.

My name is Donna Rose, and I am the first and only openly transgender member of the Board of Directors of the Human Rights Campaign. I am the national co-chair for Diversity. I am the co-chair appointee-elect for the Business Council. I have spoken at events around the country on behalf of the organization, and I am a respected advocate for the transgender community.