Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon has proposed legislation in Congress that would significantly expand civil rights for the LGBT community. According to PortlandTribune.com, Merkley plans on “[introducing] legislation to bar discrimination not only in employment but extending to financial transactions, housing and public accommodations.” Merkley, who was just elected to a second six-year term in the soon-to-be Republican-controlled Senate, remarked, “Oregon and the nation are on a trajectory toward equality, and my goal is to continue pushing for it. This is the core vision of our Constitution — equality and opportunity for all. The Constitution was written in a world that was imperfect, but we keep pushing toward that vision, and substantial progress has been made. It’s time for a renewed effort to get this done.”
Merkley’s efforts are part of a larger movement to pass a comprehensive LGBT civil rights bill akin to those passed in the 1960s under then-President Lyndon B. Johnson which significantly expanded the rights of black people. A similar bill for gay people was first introduced in 1974 by then-New York Reps. Bella Abzug and Ed Koch. But the idea, mentioned the other day in the New York Times, is already being poo-pooed by Washington insiders. But as Kerry Eleveld writing for DailyKos.com observes: “The bad news is that some Washington LGBT groups are already dashing their own hope, saying the landmark legislation ‘could take a decade or longer’ to pass. Wow. Not the 114th Congress, not the 115th Congress, not the 116th Congress, not the 117th Congress. Maybe, just maybe, in the final stretches of the 118th Congress. Or maybe not. Maybe longer. Are you kidding? This is the exact problem with most Washington-based groups. They’re nearly incapable of articulating a grand vision and then letting people be inspired by it, believe in it, and get behind it.”
Meanwhile, Merkley is “undaunted.” “I would hope that everyone views discrimination as such a serious concern for those who value equality and opportunity — that vision in our Constitution — that we should continue to reach toward this,” he says.
