Utahans Join Over 300 from HRC to Lobby Congress

On 8 October 2009, over 300 volunteers and staff of HRC joined on Capitol Hill as part of the No Excuses campaign to lobby the 111th Congress, including a strong delegation from Utah.  The HRC members appealed to elected officials to co-sponsor and support important pieces of federal legislation.

It is time for Congress to act on basic matter of fairness and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans and their families.  The HRC Utah delegation visited the offices of US Senators Orrin Hatch & Robert Bennett and US Congresspersons Jim Matheson, Rob Bishop & Jason Chaffetz.  Representative Jim Matheson supported the Matthew Shepard Hate Crime Act and has the strongest HRC Score of the legislators representing Utah, and he took time to meet personally with the HRC Utah delegation.

The lobby meetings focused on the following key legislative priorities in the 111th Congress:
• Repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denies legally married lesbian and gay couples more than 1,000 federal protections;
• Prohibit workplace discrimination for the LGBT community by passing an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA);
• Repeal “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” to ensure that service members who contribute to our nation's security are no longer summarily discharged for who they are;
• Pass immigration reform that recognizes permanent same-sex couples and ends the painful separation of families;
• And provide health benefits equally to the nearly three million federal government employees, including same-sex domestic partners.

You can continue the work of No Excuses with in-district visits with your representative and senators, asking them to protect LGBT persons in their jobs, accessing affordable health care, serving their country and fully safeguarding their families.