house passes enda...well, at least an exclusionary version.

So ENDA passed--without an amendment protecting gender identity.

This is why I am pissed: if you are a sexual minority, but you still perform your heteronormative gender role, you can pass--unless it comes down to talking about a partner or bringing one to a company event. But the point is, you CAN pass.

The only sexual minorities that stick out like a sore thumb are those who are also gender benders in some way or another, to whatever degree. GENDER AND SEXUALITY GO HAND IN HAND, PEOPLE.

I am a bit at a loss for words. But I like what this blogger writing for the Huffington Post had to say:

What has been missing from the debate, mainly focused on transgender people with foes playing up fears of penises showing up in women's locker rooms, is the very real discrimination against all people -- straight, gay, bisexual and transgender -- for not conforming to "rules" about gender expression. It's about the straight bartender who refused to wear makeup at a Reno casino" and ended up losing, the court siding with the casino, ruling she was not unfairly dismissed from her job as much as it's about Susan Stanton losing her job when she announced she would be transitioning.

For me, it's personal -- I'm not a petite blond in a bikini. I get called sir on a daily basis. I had a job where I was asked to wear a skirt for client meetings. I interviewed at another and refused because at this small start up software company in the early 90s, women were not allowed to wear pants. I love getting dressed up but please don't ask me to wear a dress. It makes me miserable. If you ask me to wear make-up, I'm going to look like a clown.

It's personal because one of my kids struggles with gender identity. I watch his pain and know there is a very real chance he is transgender. Threaten my children's rights and I am no longer sane... throw him under the bus and I'll go out and pick that damn bus up and throw it off the road.

And it's personal because it is a statement about my community. What we are willing to do, and how we are willing to walk in the world.

It is a devastating loss. In 1987, Massachusetts passed a gay and lesbian civil rights bill. Twenty years later, we still have no gender identity protections. The only state in the country with legally recognized gay marriage and no protections for gender expression.

As a community, we need to reframe where we are. It's not about making chicken salad out of chicken shit, which implies making due with what we have. It's about creating a calculated, thoughtful strategy for moving forward, building on what we have. It's about making stone soup. I believe that's what Congresswoman Baldwin was trying to do. Regardless, I am going to support her because I am unwilling to throw anyone under the bus.