Although two of the openly gay members in Congress predict that the House of Representatives will pass historic gay rights bills next year, they are not certain that the Senate will, too.

Speaking at the LGBT leadership conference that was recently held in San Francisco, U.S. Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) and Jared Polis (D-Colorado) said that they hope to get two of the three LGBT rights bills passed in the House and off to the Senate for vote by March. They expect that they will sail through the house but could become bottlenecked in the Senate where they may not have as much support.

The bills that they hope to pass are the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (EDNA), the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) and the extension of benefits to the domestic partners and spouses of LGBT federal civilian employees.

The worry is because in the House a bill can be passed by simple majority, whereas in the Senate any single member can put a hold on legislation.  There must then be 60 votes to override that hold or filibuster.

LGBT leaders, who are fed up with the delay in getting EDNA passed, issued this statement:

“There is absolutely no reason for Congress to continue to delay this non-controversial bill or drop LGBT issues to the bottom of their agenda.  We will not be denied our basic rights any longer.  Nothing is more important than protecting peoples’ jobs so EDNA must pass now.  Further delays are absolutely unacceptable.”

(via Edge)

Tags: California, Colorado, Congress, DADT, Discrimination, Domestic Partners, Domestic Partnerships, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gay Rights, LGBT, Wisconsin, Workplace Benefits