Victory Fund applauds Frank, Baldwin on ENDA introduction

Mon, May 14th 2007, 16:04

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Denis Dison (202) 842-7308, denis.dison@victoryfund.org

WASHINGTON, D.C.—April 24, 2007—The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund today congratulated the only two openly gay members of Congress, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) and Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), for co-sponsoring and introducing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would make it illegal under U.S. law to fire a person solely on the basis of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.  Victory Fund President and CEO Chuck Wolfe issued the following statement:

“Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin are the staunchest allies we have because they are part of our community,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.  “They won’t just be part of the debate; they’ll be the subject of the debate.  When lawmakers talk about the ramifications of this bill, they’ll be looking into the faces of two openly gay officials whose lives will be directly impacted by it, and that’s powerful.  Next week marks the twentieth anniversary of Barney Frank’s coming out.  Since then hundreds of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender politicians have stepped up to run for public office and lead their communities.  In 1998, with the help of the Victory Fund, Tammy Baldwin became the first person ever elected to Congress for the first time as openly gay.  Both of these courageous public officials have shown true leadership not just on LGBT issues, but on a wide array of issues that affect their communities and all Americans.  We are very proud of their service and proud they are the face of gay and lesbian America in the U.S. Congress.” 

The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund provides strategic, technical and financial support to openly LGBT candidates and officials. It’s the only national organization solely committed to increasing the number of openly LGBT public officials at federal, state and local levels of government.  Victory is the nation’s largest LGBT political action committee and one of the nation’s largest non-connected PACs.  In 16 years, Victory has helped the number of openly LGBT officials grow from 49 to more than 370.  Roughly 22% of all Americans are represented by an openly LGBT elected or appointed official.