Amy Klobuchar: “I come to the floor today in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, also known as ENDA. For my State it has…”

“I come to the floor today in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, also known as ENDA. For my State it has been quite a year for equality. Last November we were the first State in the country to defeat a constitutional amendment banning marriage equality. Up to that point those amendments had passed. Then, just a few months later, earlier this year, Minnesota became the 12th State to allow full marriage equality--the 12th State in the country. I am proud to represent our State. It has been a true civil rights pioneer. We can go back to the days of Hubert Humphrey, who once stood on this floor, and to his speech to the 1948 Democratic convention where he talked about standing for the people of this country, standing for people with disabilities, standing for the most vulnerable. That is the history of our State. Before striking down the amendment banning marriage equality, Minnesota was one of the very first States to ban discrimination based on both sexual orientation and gender identity. That happened back in 1993. I would say that 20 years later it is time for the rest of the country to catch up. That is not to say the country hasn't made great strides towards fairness and equality. I am proud of our progress. Through the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act we have made it a Federal crime to assault someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.…”