The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) passed out of Senate committee on July 10, which was a historic act. It is the furthest that the bill has advanced in 17 years. It had bipartisan support. It included protections for transgender workers. It was not amended in any way to strip the bill of its protection for LGBT workers. And now it's going to the Senate floor.
But if you were watching cable news, you might not know any of that. All you would know is that there is going to be a royal baby, and very soon. And you would know all the speculation about the gender, name, hair color, eye color, time of day, and length of labor about that baby.
According to a report from Media Matters, CNN and Fox News have dedicated no air time to the advancement of a bill that could protect LGBT workers from being fired for their jobs. MSNBC has given the bill two mentions. Meanwhile, the speculation on the royal baby has dominated cable news outlets.
GLAAD and Media Matters are working to debunk the misinformation that is being spread by opponents of ENDA. When the public is underinformed, it leads to discrimination against the LGBT community. For example, the Center for American Progress also found that 9 out of 10 voters erroneously believe that a federal law is in place to protect LGBT workers.
The Center for American Progress shows that the American public already supports workplace non-discrimination for LGBT people. And yet, 29 states have no protection for LGBT workers, and there are currently no federal protections.
GLAAD calls on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox to dedicate time to examining the state of workplace protections for LGBT workers, and giving ENDA the media attention it deserves. It can be done, even while watching for the royal baby.