WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) released the following statement on the Employee Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which passed in the U.S. Senate by a vote of 64-32.

For too long, our friends, neighbors, and family members have faced unconscionable discrimination at work because of who they love.  In some parts of the country, this discrimination – which has led to harassment, lost promotions, and even firings – is perfectly legal. In Connecticut, we've had anti-discrimination laws on the books for over 20 years, and passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act into federal law is, quite frankly, embarrassingly long overdue.

 

Senate passage of this historic legislation moves us one step closer to the day when who you love has absolutely nothing to do with the rights that you are afforded as a citizen of the greatest country in the world. What we did here today is actually pretty simple. We're not trampling on the First Amendment. We're not dictating morality. We're not harming the economy, and we're not undermining the religious community. We're just saying that you can't discriminate against people in the workplace because of who they choose to love or who they are inside.

 

Now it’s up to House leadership to do the right thing and take up this bill. Two-thirds of the American public support it, and 50 years from now history is going to judge no less harshly those that vote against this act as it judges now those that voted against some of the civil rights acts of the 1950's and 1960's. Who you love, who you are inside, and what you feel should never ever be a reason for discrimination.