UPDATE, 2:53PM: In a vote of 27-21, the HELP committee has passed a non-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act. A full floor vote is next. Only four Democrats voted against this non-inclusive bill: Reps. Yvette Clark, Loretta Sanchez, Rush Holt and Dennis Kucinich. I don't know what Sestak's rationale for voting for a non-inclusive bill is yet. It must be tough for him with the speaker and other House Dem leaders pushing for this bill. However, a non-inclusive bill does not do anything to address the core problems inherent to LGBT workplace discrimination. I'll provide more of an update on next steps when it becomes clear what they are

Dear Congressman,

A lot of us here in Philadelphia vocally supported you last fall. You were a hero on this and other local blogs, and local grassroots groups like Philly for Change and Liberty City endorsed you, and helped your campaign. That's why it's exciting to me that your vote on the markup of a bill today could make a big difference.

Today, your committee (the House Education and Labor committee) will meet at 10 AM and vote to mark up a bill called ENDA to extend employment rights to lesbians and gays. Currently there is no federal law protecting non-heterosexuals from being fired for having sex, in non-working hours, with someone else of the same sex.

Passage of this bill would be a big step forward in establishing, under law, a set of rights and a class of protection for gays and lesbians. However, some members of the queer community have never been able to get or keep jobs, not because of who they sleep with, but because of who they are.

That's right, I am talking about nellies, sissies, butches, genderqueer, and transgender people. Some of these folks identify as a different gender than the sex they were born with, and some identify fully as the sex they were born with--they're just more feminine or masculine than the norm.

These are the people who face the most discrimination in the workplace, and yet some of your colleagues want to remove protections from ENDA that would designate gender identity and gender presentation as protected classes under the law.