Keeping Hope (& ENDA) Alive

Someone's on a roll this month! Senator Harry Reid (D-Fierce) may have played a major role in reopen the government, but he isn't resting on those laurels. Rather, he's turning up the heat and bringing the beat.

Just moments ago, Senator Reid just let slip his plans to file cloture on something long awaited (and long overdue).

Reid is likely to file a cloture petition on the bill this evening, a Democratic leadership aide told BuzzFeed Thursday, which would set a vote on the motion to proceed on debate of ENDA for Monday evening.

If the motion to proceed, which requires 60 votes, is agreed to, the Senate would debate and eventually vote on the bill. The vote would be the first Senate vote on the legislation since 1996 and the first vote ever on the legislation with both sexual orientation and gender identity protections.

Advocates say that they have clear support from 59 senators, including all 55 Democrats in the Senate and four Republicans, with a handful of other Republican senators as potential yes votes.

"We're one step closer to making America far more equal. ENDA is about common-sense workplace protections for LGBT Americans that 80 percent of Americans believe already exist. There's only upside to this issue," Human Rights Campaign vice president of communications Fred Sainz told BuzzFeed.

Oh, yes. That's right. ENDA is finally reaching the Senate floor.

At this point, Senator Reid is confident he has the votes for ENDA in the Senate. After all, all of his Senate Democrats support the bill. And on top of that, several Senate Republicans have either announced their support for ENDA or are open to voting for the final bill. Even Senator Dean Heller (R-????) is sounding like his vote is in play.

Even Cindy McCain has asked her husband to support ENDA. Sadly, he's still living on a very altered reality opposed. And the 21st Century Know Nothings have rather desperately stooped to new lows to try to kill ENDA in the Senate.

Why? Remember, we covered that on Tuesday. And that probably guarantees a sizable number of Senate Republican "Nay" votes... And tougher times ahead when it reaches the (G-O-TEA Mad) House.

But for now, major progress is being made in the Senate. And Senator Reid has taken ENDA further than it's ever gone before on Capitol Hill. That at least keeps hope alive that wrongful workplace discrimination will one day be a thing of the past.